Kate Dennett, Daily Mail Australia
Updated May 25, 2024 01:20, May 25, 2024 01:37
Richard Gadd's stalker drama Baby Reindeer has been a massive global success since it was released on Netflix last month, garnering over 60 million views.
The series follows comedian Donnie Dunn as he endures a terrifying ordeal after being bombarded with thousands of emails by stalker Martha Scott, played by Jessica Gunning.
The film's huge success has sparked many thought-provoking discussions about stalking, particularly celebrity stalking.
As the show becomes a huge success, Daily Mail Australia is profiling Australian celebrities who have been victims of terrifying stalking.
After the show premiered, comedian Will Anderson spoke about Baby Reindeer during a radio appearance, and touched upon his own experience as a victim of stalking.
Speaking to Kate Ritchie on Nova's Fitzy & Wippa show, Will, 50, said he had been warned not to watch the show due to his own experience of receiving letters every day from fans.
“I was warned not to look [Baby Reindeer] “Actually, like a lot of comedians, and I don't want to go into too much detail, it's a very personal medium,” he said.
“People often feel like they know you really well, so that's actually part of the illusion. It's like radio, you're sharing your life with your audience every day, so people start to feel like, 'You're an intimate part of my life when I'm in the shower, when I'm listening in my car.'”
Will went on to explain that when he hosted a Triple J radio show between 2000 and 2004, he had a fan who would write him long letters almost every day.
Detailing his ordeal, he recalled receiving “six pages” of conversation every day from female fans, as if they had a “personal relationship.”
“I think there are a lot of people who work in these industries who are touched by these stories,” he continued.
“When I was at Triple J – and it's a long time ago now, so I don't think it's any harm in saying this – I had a lady writing to me every day that I was on air. This was back when you had to write a letter in an envelope every day at the end of the show.”
“There will be six pages of lines that make it seem like it's a personal relationship. It can be a lot worse than that.”
Meanwhile, radio presenter Kate Ritchie's own stalking allegations came to light earlier this year.
It emerged she had called NSW Police after receiving a message from suspect Gerald Ryan, 71, saying he was in her suburb and wanted to find her.
Police documents seen by The Daily Telegraph say he sent her “hundreds” of messages between February 2022 and April 2023, including “numerous nude photographs of the defendant and numerous videos of the defendant masturbating”.
Ryan was arrested in a park in Sydney's eastern suburbs last month and charged with stalking, to which he pleaded guilty and was also given a violence prevention order banning him from going near Kate.
Waverley Magistrates' Court was told Ryan's obsession with the TV star began last year when he began posting comments on her social media accounts such as: “Hi Kate… I love you so much”.
Another post read: “I just want to kiss you. My heart is beating fast for you. I love you madly.”
Things got worse when Ryan posted sexually explicit messages about Kate on his social media pages, but she didn't respond.
Police evidence also revealed that Ryan had said he wanted to marry Kate and that he would make a good stepfather to her daughter.
In February, he sent her a letter to her work address, along with a Valentine's Day card.
Ryan was given a 12-month conditional release order and the AVO states he is not allowed to go within 500 metres of Kate's home or workplace.
Following the release of Baby Reindeer, WSFM morning host Brendan “Jonesie” Jones also spoke out for the first time about his own experience with being stalked.
The 56-year-old radio presenter revealed that he was once harassed by two female stalkers.
“I had a stalker once. There were two women. One was years ago and he just wouldn't let her go. She used a different name. It was super creepy. It was super scary,” he told co-hosts Amanda Keller and Emma Gillespie.
“She knew where I lived. She knew everything. And I got hold of her. She was using a fake name, Cassandra, but I found out her real name.”
Jonesy recalled that her stalker would call into the radio station every night while at work.
He recounted an incident when “Cassandra” called the station seeking a prize and he answered the phone.
“I froze. I got chills and I said, 'Cassandra?' I had her address and I had all the information about her,” he said.
“After she was found, I never heard from her again.”
Last year, a man was accused of stalking Sophie Monk, the host of Australia's version of “Love Island.”
Brian Rapley, 49, claimed he believed he was in a relationship with Sophie after turning up at the TV star's doorstep in April 2023 with red roses and being “catfished”.
After exchanging affectionate messages online, he turned up and lingered at her Central Coast home in the hope he might meet her in person.
Ms LaPley claims that a scammer posing as a TV star bombarded her with romantic text and direct messages over a four-month period, scamming her out of $7,000.
In September, he was arrested after turning up at Sophie's manager's office in Surry Hills, Sydney, and charged with breaching a personal violence prohibition order (AVO).
He was released from prison a week later with a 12 month community corrections order and was informed the AVO would continue.
In May 2015, a man was convicted of stalking Sophie by sending her violent and sexually abusive messages on social media.
James Scott McCabe, 32, was given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for sending countless Twitter messages to Sophie between 2010 and 2013. Some of the messages depicted the pair engaging in sexual acts.
Musical actress Rhonda Burchmore also spoke out about her experience of alleged stalking and threatening behaviour last year.
At the time, Rhonda revealed that she sometimes felt “vulnerable” and “exposed” while performing on stage eight times a week.
“You feel very vulnerable out there,” she told the Herald Sun at the time.
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“You're just doing your job. When someone knows your performance times and schedule like a clock and has been watching your every move, every step, every position onstage for six months… you become an easy target.”
She also revealed that she was harassed by a stalker while performing in the West End play Hot Shoe Shuffle in 1994.
“He was a little obsessed at first, but then he started buying tickets to the show in the same seat every week just to see me,” she said.
“He would write to me every week asking if we could meet up. It was all fun and games at first, but then it escalated to death threats when I didn't reply or meet him where he wanted for a coffee or a drink.”
