Netflix’s new series Baby Reindeer has been a smash hit. But the dark show, repeatedly billed by Netflix as a “true story,” may land the company in financial trouble. It has just been hit with a massive defamation lawsuit by one of the people depicted in the series.

The show is about Richard Gadd, the show’s Scottish creator who plays himself. He is working at a pub when he meets a woman named Martha. Their chance encounter quickly descends into a gripping and harrowing stalking tale, a messy affair that features two deeply broken characters and concludes with Martha sentenced to jail time. If the series had been billed as fictional, the story would stop there, and Netflix would likely have ridden the show’s blockbuster success to a sweet payday and multiple awards.

Yet the first episode of Baby Reindeer opened with the preface, “This is a true story.” Not that it was based on a true story. Not that it was a fictionalized account loosely based on real-world events. But that it was a “true story,” full stop.

What’s more, Netflix’s website describes the show as a “true story” over and over and over again. A Netflix executive even testified before the British Parliament that it was “obviously a true story of the horrific abuse that the writer and protagonist Richard Gadd suffered at the hands of a convicted stalker.” (Emphasis added.)

None of this would’ve mattered if the identity of Martha, whose name was changed for the series, remained unknown. But, despite Netflix claiming it took steps to shield Martha’s identity, Twitter activity included in the show allowed internet sleuths to identify Martha as a real-world woman named Fiona Harvey.

Naturally, after being depicted to millions as a deranged stalker, Harvey faced widespread online abuse and irreparable damage to her reputation. Of course, if the story were completely accurate, then Netflix would have the ultimate defense, truth, but it seems that at least part of the story may have been fabricated.

But not out of whole cloth: Harvey’s alleged stalking behavior has been extensively corroborated by other victims. That said, in the “true story” of Baby Reindeer, Martha is described as a convicted stalker and shown as having served time in jail.

Yet Harvey denies that this ever happened. And much more importantly than the mere denials of someone who, frankly, lacks any credibility, journalists have searched extensively for any record that Harvey was ever convicted of any crime or spent time in jail and come up empty.

As the BBC reports, “The lawsuit includes a photo of a background check and a certificate that claims that Ms Harvey has no criminal convictions on her record.”

So, all signs suggest that part of what’s depicted in the show, in which Martha confesses to stalking Gadd and is sent to prison, never actually happened.

Another thing depicted in the show, that Martha had previously been convicted of stalking someone else, has been refuted by the alleged stalking victim herself, who, in an interview with Piers Morgan, said Harvey did stalk her for years but that there was never any criminal prosecution.

Hence why Harvey is suing Netflix for more than $170 million. And unless some evidence does turn up that she actually was convicted of a crime, she may well have a strong case against the streaming service.

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You simply can’t depict someone as a convicted criminal to sensationalize a story so you can make millions when she is not. That’s not just a deeply immoral thing to do, but especially when that person is a random citizen and not a public figure, it also puts you in serious legal jeopardy.

From failing to adequately shield her identity to making claims it doesn’t seem to have fact-checked in a supposedly “true story,” this whole saga is an enormous black eye for Netflix. The streaming service needs to decide whether it’s in the business of entertainment or journalism, and if it blurred the lines recklessly with Baby Reindeer, it should be held responsible in court.

Brad Polumbo (@Brad_Polumbo) is an independent journalist, YouTuber, and co-founder of BASEDPolitics.