Miranda Cosgrove recalls her own ‘Baby Reindeer’ stalker incident

Miranda Cosgrove reflects on a traumatic incident with a stalker in 2016.

The “iCarly” star opened up about her own “Baby Reindeer” experience in an interview with Bustle, telling the outlet that she didn’t feel “super safe” in her Los Angeles home where the incident occurred.

In 2016, a man who was stalking the actor set himself on fire in the yard of her house and died by suicide. Cosgrove still lives in the same house today, but told Bustle that the events of that day still impact her feelings about her home and the frequency with which she stays there.

“That’s another reason why I go to my parents’ house so often,” she explained. “I just don’t feel particularly safe in this house. I wouldn’t really stay there for two years after it happened. Then I got into a relationship and because that person was with me, I was less afraid. But I don’t really like being there alone.”

“Baby Reindeer” premiered on Netflix on April 11 and is based on the true story of series author and star Richard Gadd, who had his own experiences with a stalker.

Despite her personal experiences, she was still able to enjoy the show, telling the outlet, “I didn’t think much about it.”

She also praised Gadd for having to relive his past to get on the show, adding, “I feel like if I were like that and had to relive your most horrible experiences and then try to… (to re-enact), then it would be so hard.”

NBC Los Angeles reported in December 2016 that a man was found dead on the sidewalk in the Hollywood Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, although the actor was not named in the story. He was pronounced dead by paramedics.

Cosgrove previously told the story on an August 2020 episode of Whitney Cummings’ “Good For You” podcast. At the time, she said the incident made her want to stay with her parents “for a while.”

The actor recalled coming home from a bad date and noticing that it had rained in Los Angeles that day. Instead of returning to her own house, she decided to go to her parents’ house after the date and said she received a call around 3 a.m. that someone had died at her home.

“It was the strangest thing ever because they had caution tape. It was right in my front yard,” she explained. “Basically I guess a guy came and buried things in my backyard for three days. He buried a lunch box in my backyard with milk chocolate in it, and then he buried knives, a rope and a few other things.”

Cosgrove said she did not notice him burying items in her yard and shared that he also walked up and down the yard with a gun. The actress said that later, after looking at the footage from her security cameras, they were able to determine that he had been waiting in the yard for about six hours.

“And then someone drove up who had a similar car that kind of looked like my car, and I guess he was confused and thought maybe I drove up,” she explained. “He shot at this person six times and missed because he was sitting in a car. She drove away.”

Cosgrove told Bustle that she met the woman years later at a drive-by event and said, “She seemed to process things in a similar way to me.”

“It could have just been completely random, like he saw me somewhere and followed me home or something like that. But they never figured out exactly why,” she added.

Cosgrove said the incident “scared me very much,” so she started living with her parents again.

“It was really bizarre,” she said. “I have a fantasy of diving into the story and finding out exactly why it all happened because I think it would be interesting to know who the person was, why they were there and what exactly was going on.”

She added: “I don’t know if that would make it worse or better, but it just seems interesting to have more answers.”