Martha Stewart dishes on ‘cookie-cutter life,’ felony conviction in new documentary
A Martha Stewart documentary is on the way and the lifestyle icon is not holding back on subjects like the unraveling of her marriage, her time in prison and defying the “cookie-cutter life” mapped out for her.
On Oct. 10, Netflix released the first trailer for the upcoming film, simply titled “Martha,” that tells the story of “the first female self-made billionaire in America,” as Stewart, 83, describes herself.
The clip shows snippets from Stewart’s interviews for the documentary, and the businesswoman doesn’t shy away from addressing her 2005 insider trading scandal.
“I was a trophy for these idiots,” she says in the trailer. “I was dragged into solitary, no food or water.”
As for how she feels about the case now, Stewart adds, “Those prosecutors should’ve been put in a Cuisinart and turned on high.”
In 2004, Stewart was found guilty of multiple felony charges, including conspiracy and obstruction of justice, after being connected to an insider trading investigation. She served five months in the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, and was released in March 2005.
She famously wore a crocheted poncho — which in 2020 she revealed she still owns — when she was released.
The “Martha” trailer shows clips of Stewart in the poncho the night she left prison before focusing on how she rebranded her image.
“The cookie-cutter house and the cookie-cutter life was not for me,” she says in a voiceover. “I have two mottos: ‘Learn something new every day’ and ‘When you’re through changing, you’re through.’”
She continues, “I could’ve just been a miserable has-been housewife. But I didn’t let that happen to myself and I’m so happy I didn’t.”
The author was married to ex-husband and publisher Andrew Stewart from 1961 to 1990. It seems she’ll open up in the documentary about why they decided to divorce.
After a photo of the former couple appears, Stewart shares some advice for wives who discover their husbands have cheated on them: “He’s a piece of s—. Get out of that marriage.”
When one of the filmmakers points out that Stewart also had an affair, Stewart replies, “Yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.”
“Martha” will dive further into Stewart’s personal life, unpack how she built her business and examine how she continues to delight fans today with her unexpected choices, like becoming close friends with Snoop Dogg or posing on the cover of Sports Illustrated in 2023. According to the film’s press release, the documentary will also feature “hundreds of hours of intimate interviews with Stewart and those from her inner circle, along with Stewart’s private archives of diaries, letters, and never-seen-before footage.”
Fans can see how Stewart became an icon and manages to hold onto that status when “Martha” premieres on Netflix Oct. 30.
