Martha Stewart has revealed that she’s read “parts” of Ina Garten’s recent memoir, “Be Ready When the Luck Happens.”
Stewart commented on her falling out with Garten during Sunday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.” The culinary superstar and lifestyle guru served as a bartender throughout the night to celebrate Snoop Dogg’s 53rd birthday. The rapper appeared on Cohen’s show as a guest alongside Seth Meyers.
“You read the parts about yourself?” Cohen asked while speaking with Stewart. “What was your take?”
“She can write whatever she wants,” Stewart simply responded.
Snoop Dogg then jumped into the conversation, asking Cohen, “I didn’t read the book, what does it say?” Cohen responded, “Ina said that they fell out because she moved to Connecticut.”
Stewart asserted that Garten’s claim was “not true.” She added that Garten stopped talking to her “after I went to jail.” Snoop Dog immediately came to his longtime friend’s defense, calling Garten’s side of the story “weak” and saying that’s when he “stepped in” as Stewart’s “real” friend.
“Martha don’t fall out with people,” Snoop Dogg asserted. Cohen gleefully proclaimed that “when one friend goes out the door, another friend comes in the door.”
Last month, Stewart made headlines after she shot back at Garten, saying their friendship never ended on friendly terms. “When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me,” Stewart told The New Yorker in a profile on Garten. “I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”
In March 2004, Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction and two counts of lying to federal investigators in connection with an insider trading scheme. She was sentenced in July 2004 to five months in prison, along with five months of home confinement and two years of supervised probation.
According to Garten, she and Stewart amicably parted ways after Stewart purchased a property in Bedford, New York. The former friends first met in the 1990s while living in the Hamptons. In the first issue of Stewart’s now-defunct magazine, “Martha Stewart Living,” Stewart featured a writeup of Garten, who was a local business owner at the time. Stewart would later help Garten secure her first book deal. In fact, Garten’s career and household name as “Barefoot Contessa” is often credited to her association with Stewart.
In a 2017 appearance on the “How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black” podcast, Garten called Stewart a “trailblazer” and spoke about their budding friendship.
“My desk was right in front of the cheese case and we just ended up in a conversation,” Garten said. “We ended up actually doing benefits together where it was at her house and I was the caterer and we became friends after that.”
Per her New Yorker profile, Garten “firmly denied” Stewart’s recent claim. Stewart’s longtime publicist, Susan Magrino, later clarified that Stewart was “not bitter at all and there’s no feud.”
Watch the clip below, via YouTube:
