The more I learn about Martha Stewart, the more I come to love her as a true pop culture chaosmonger.
The latest revelation about the 83-year-old is that she cheated on her husband, Andrew Stewart, at the beginning of her marriage. The act itself isn’t at all amusing (cheating is bad!), but her delivery of the fact is so blasé that it shocks to the point of delight.
In the trailer for the new Netflix documentary Martha, directed by RJ Cutler, the lifestyle mogul complains, “If you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of shit. Get out of that marriage.” The shot then zooms out, showing the producer on the other side of the camera conducting the conversation. “Didn’t you have an affair early on?” he asks.
She responds, flatly, “Yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.” Girl, what?!
Watch the madness here:
Stewart married her first and only husband, Andrew Stewart, in 1961, when she was a 20-year-old student at Barnard College of Columbia University. They had one child together, a daughter named Alexis, before separating in 1987 and divorcing in 1990. Later, Stewart dated actor Anthony Hopkins and billionaire software developer Charles Simonyi. (In a 2022 episode of her eponymous podcast, she revealed she broke up with Hopkins after watching Silence of the Lambs. “I couldn’t get past the Hannibal Lecter,” she said. An absolutely legendary ick.)
Andy and Martha Stewart in 1980
Arthur Schatz/Getty Images
Per Netflix, Martha chronicles Stewart’s ascent from teenage model to Wall Street stockbroker to lifestyle media maven. The film includes “intimate interviews with Stewart and those from her inner circle, along with Stewart’s private archives of diaries, letters, and never-seen-before footage.” In addition to details about her personal life and her, um, indiscretions, the film also delves into her criminal history, her time spent behind bars, and her miraculous comeback.
Martha will be streaming on Netflix on October 30.
