$170million Baby Reindeer case WILL go to court as 'elated' Fiona Harvey lands a key win in her legal battle against Netflix: ALISON BOSHOFF

FIONA Harvey – who claims she was identified as a stalker by the hit show Baby Reindeer – is 'elated' after winning a key legal battle against Netflix in her defamation battle.

A trial between Harvey and the streamer has moved a step closer, after an appeal by Netflix against a decision not to throw the case out has itself been thrown out.

Her New York lawyer Richard Roth said: 'Netflix is doing everything it can to avoid a trial of this action.

'First it made a motion before the federal district court, which it lost. Then it appealed that decision, which was dismissed.'

Roth added: 'There will be a trial in this action where its wrongdoing will be front and centre before a jury.'

Asked how his client was feeling he replied: 'Elated.'

Harvey is seeking $170million in damages, alleging that the programme, created by and starring Richard Gadd, defamed her, and made her life a misery.

Broadcast in April 2024, Baby Reindeer became a global smash hit. At the beginning of the first episode, the words 'This is a true story' appeared on screen.

At the end of the series, the character Martha, played by actress Jessica Gunning, pleaded guilty to stalking comedian Donny (Gadd) and was handed a four-and-a-half year prison sentence.

Harvey's lawyers say she has never been convicted of any crime, let alone gone to prison. She claims that she has been defamed 'at a magnitude and scale without precedent' and her life ruined as a result.

Her legal team said she was too traumatised to leave her flat in London after the show aired.

In September 2024, judge Gary Klaus ruled Baby Reindeer was not a true story, and that Netflix had 'made no effort to investigate' the accuracy of the facts; nor did they take measures to hide Harvey's identity.

Tom Hiddleston wiped away the tears as he revealed his love for... Mary Poppins.

Hiddleston, 45 and a father of two, choked up as he told Bafta: 'I'm sorry, I get so moved by it. It's a story about a man learning how to be a father; and a woman learning how to be a mother. It's so... it's so moving.' 

He added: 'I love this film so much. I can't remember a time when I didn't know this film by heart.'

KATYA DANCES THROUGH THE PAIN

Super-competitive Strictly dancer Katya Jones says she nearly quit the show because she was so upset at not winning with Emmerdale actor Lewis Cope last year.

'Every year I do question myself,' Jones said. 'Like, really think: 'Are you ready for this really intense, really all-consuming thing again and again and again and again?'...And if the answer is still yes, I'll be here doing it.

'I must say last year I was very heartbroken. So there was a lot of doubt, like: 'Can I face it again?' This year Jones is dancing with YouTuber John Nellis, pictured, and who knows how far they can go, but she's being philosophical about her prospects.

'We are giving the nation something to look forward to and get through the winter. So it's not about me. Get your little ego, shove it deep down there and give people a good time!

'I still love Strictly as much now as when I started. The moment I don't love it is the moment I walk away.'

LINDA SWAPS SCOOBY DOO FOR GORE GALORE

Zoinks, Scoob! Velma from Scooby Doo is now a fully fledged scream queen.

Actress Linda Cardellini, who played the bespectacled brainbox in the 2002 live action film of the cartoon, is the star of new Friday The 13th spin-off Crystal Lake, which comes to Sky next week.

Cardellini, 51, was in London this week for a fan event. She plays Pamela Voorhees, murderous mother of equally murderous psycho Jason Voorhees, in the prequel drama; which tries to explain how Jason came to be Jason. 

There is a LOT of gore... 50 gallons of fake blood were apparently used during the production. Cardellini said there was so much fake blood, 'we were afraid my hair would turn pink'.

In the series we see her playing Pamela when she is pregnant with Jason, and the future serial killer as a young boy.

The actress won her first Emmy last month for her performance in HBO mini-series DTF St Louis, which also stars Jason Bateman and David Harbour.

HEARTBROKEN theatre impresario Sir Cameron Mackintosh has scrapped plans for a lavish 80th birthday party after the sudden death of his close friend Alan Finch who was joint managing director of his firm and instrumental in Mackintosh's success.

There were plans to host hundreds at his Somerset estate but I hear he has cancelled the fireworks and the caterers and will just have a small gathering this weekend instead.

Finch, executive director of Chichester Festival Theatre from 2005 to 2016, died aged 61 a few weeks ago, after a four-month battle with pancreatic cancer. 

His funeral was held last week at Chichester Cathedral. Mackintosh said: 'His family, we and the whole theatre world have lost someone unique and precious.'

MADONNA'S NEXT POP SUPERSTAR WILL BE... MY SON! 

MADONNA'S son David Banda is planning on following in her footsteps as a singer – and Madge predicts that he is 'destined for greatness'.

Banda, 21, was adopted by Madonna and her then husband Guy Ritchie from an orphanage in Malawi in 2005.

As a youngster, he joined the academy of the Portuguese football club Benfica, prompting Madonna to relocate to Lisbon for a while to support him.

However, he has moved on from sport and is now based in New York, where he has quietly settled on a music career, following a string of appearances singing and playing guitar on his mother's Celebration tour in 2023/4.

Friends reveal that Banda, who has adopted a 'dandy' style, plans to launch an album next year as a solo artist – under the name Senzacacona.

It's understood that he has signed a management deal; and is 'very serious' about his art.

On the occasion of his birthday last month, his mother wrote on Instagram: 'Senzacacona!!! Happiest of Birthdays. I knew you were destined for greatness from the moment I met you. David Banda. King David. The world is waiting for you to take that crown and place it firmly on your head! Your Libra indecisiveness sometimes gets in the way. But I am your Leo mother, always here to guide you. And love you!'

When he was a student, Banda gave guitar lessons to make ends meet; offering one-on-one classes on Zoom from July 2024.

During an Instagram Live stream he once joked about being hungry late at night and not having cash for food, saying that he had been scavenging.

The comments prompted worry that he was homeless and struggling; concern which he said was misplaced. 'My mother is very supportive of me. She has always been supportive of me. I am very happy in my life and I am not living out on the streets starving. Please stop worrying. Everything is good.' He now lives in the Bronx with his model girlfriend, and was spotted earlier this year at a

party given by Forward Global for the auction house Sotheby's and print-makers Lito Editions. Banda is a collector of the high-fidelity 3D

prints; and is also a friend of portrait painter Kehinde Wiley, who was honoured at the event for tastemakers and artists.

In an interview with Vogue magazine, Madonna said of David: 'He's the one I have the most in common with. I feel like he gets me; he has more of my DNA than any of my children so far.'

Her oldest child – daughter Lourdes, 30 – has worked as a model and dancer and released some music in 2022.

Rocco, 26 – her son with Guy Ritchie – is an artist based in London. Her younger daughters are Mercy, 20; and twins Stella and Estere, 14.