Lifestyle mogul Martha Stewart is going viral for her comments about her husband Andy Stewart, infidelity, and love in her recent Netflix documentary, Martha.
For those of us who grew up in the ’90s, Martha Stewart was the older woman in prison orange, embroiled in an insider trading case and a joke on the Simpsons. Or, someone we heard our parents giggling about. For the Gen Zs amongst us, she was the old lady roasting Justin Bieber and cooking with Snoop Dogg.
But Stewart’s recent documentary Martha shows the billionaire professional homemaker—whom some would say laid the template for Gwyneth Paltrow—in a different light. Stewart, a successful model, stockbroker, and media mogul, was a pioneer of the lifestyle category who overcame the scepticism of publishers at Condé Nast and Time and Rupert Murdoch himself to become a self-made billionaire.
And, her observations on love, monogamy and parenthood in Martha have enchanted the general public (us).
Stewart has historically been tight-lipped about her personal life. But in Martha Stewart spills, sharing intimate details of her marriage to Andrew “Andy” Stewart and reflecting on the dangers of dating aspiring astronauts (amongst other things).
Martha met Andrew when she was 19 and an undergrad at Barnard; he was a Yale law student. They were married for 30 years before divorcing in 1990. Stewart, who came from a middle-class family, said Andrew swept her off her feet. He was kind, handsome, and had an American Express card (a “big deal” in the 1960s). Unsurprisingly, their 27-year marriage and acrimonious divorce take up plenty of air time in the doco and prompt some of Martha’s at times deeply relatable, at times moderately disturbing comments about love and marriage.
Here are our favourite moments from Martha, ranked.
1. Chaotic (And Iconic): Martha Stewart Kissed A Stranger On Her Honeymoon
While Stewart refers to herself as “monogamous” “like a swan” her take on fidelity is unusual. In Martha, she recounts her idyllic honeymoon reflecting on a special solo trip too the Duomo in Florence. Andrew, who was Jewish, had no interest in coming with her, so she went alone. Standing in the Cathedral, she was overcome with emotion. While some of us don’t feel church is inherently sexy, Martha does. “It was a very romantic place, crowded with tourists, and I met this very handsome guy. He didn’t know I was married,” she recounts. “He was emotional, I was emotional. It was just because it was an emotional place. It was unlike anything I had ever experienced. An expansive dome, so beautiful, and paintings all around you. It was nothing I had ever done before. And so why not kiss some stranger?”
She seems annoyed by the series of questions that follow from her scandalised interviewer. “It was neither naughty nor unfaithful. It was just an emotional moment,” she says with a barely suppressed eye roll.
Relateable: Mother Stewart Was Uncomfortable Being A Mother To Her Daughter Alexis Stewart
Martha and Andrew Stewart had a baby shortly after they returned from their honeymoon. But Stewart shared, in comments many women will find it relatable, that motherhood didn’t come naturally to her.
“Reality came crashing down. My daughter Alexis was born. Back then everybody was having babies so young. That was sort of the style and the habit. I thought it was a natural thing, and it turns out it’s not at all natural to be a mother.” Stewart found it hard to adapt. “She was always a little bit chilly,” observed a friend. It sounded like Martha would have loved one of her own “how to” books on motherhood and felt ill-equipped for the task thanks to her own upbringing. “Feelings, we didn’t talk about stuff like that, that wasn’t part of our growing up, we were loved sort of obtusely when we were supposed to be loved,” she reflects on her childhood. “How could I be a really great mother if I didn’t have the education to be a mother?” she asked.
2. Chaotic And Relatable: A “Very Attractive Irish Man” Affairs In Martha Stewart’s Marriage To Andy Stewart
Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart have been divorced since 1990 and haven’t spoken since. When talking about their marriage breakdown, Stewart was scathing about Andrew’s infidelity. “He was not satisfied at home,” she said. I don’t know how many girlfriends he had during this time, but I think there were quite a few.”
She goes on to dish out some wisdom.
“Young women listen to my advice, if you’re married and you think you’re happily married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s the piece of shit. And look at him as a piece of shit and get out of it, get out of that marriage,” she says.
When the interviewer points to rumours that she had an affair early in their marriage, she’s unphased. “Uh, yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that,” she replies. Andy did. Stewart seems mildly surprised. “I had a very brief affair with a very attractive Irish man, and it was just nothing, nothing, I would never have broken up a marriage for it.” “It was like the kiss in the cathedral.”
Andrew Stewart did end their marriage during his affair with her assistant Robyn Fairclough, who Martha invited to live on their property. “It was like I put out a snack for Andy,” she quipped. Martha kicked Robyn out but didn’t see infidelity as a reason for divorce. “He’s the one who wanted the divorce. Not I. He was throwing me out away,” she says, “I was 40 years old. I was gorgeous. I was a desirous woman, but he was treating me like a castaway.”
3. Relatable: Martha Stewart’s Comments On Her Divorce
Stewart was promoting her wedding book when her relationships broke down. “Some people revel in this self-pity, etc.,” she reflected. “I just don’t.”
While she’s not self-pitying, she found the divorce immensely difficult. “Getting divorced was a terrible thing for me because we were the first to divorce in my family,” she said. “And that we haven’t spoken since the divorce is even more painful. But I’m very strong, and I’m very motivated to get on with life.”
While Stewart doesn’t shed many tears on camera, she did share the letters she wrote to her husband during his affairs and their eventual breakup. They’ll be relatable to anyone who has ever had the unpleasant experience of being cheated on or watching a relationship slowly trickle down the drain.
“Dearest Andy, I cannot sleep, I cannot eat, my skin is worried, and many lines that were not there are now there,” she wrote in a letter to her husband, “I am agonisingly jealous of your other women. I cannot bear that you use what we did together on others.”
In another letter, she describes herself as being in a “really fragile, breakable state right now.” And, in yet another, she appears to acknowledge her contributions to their breakup: “Nobody will ever care about you like I do. Nobody will ever love you as much. Give me another chance, Andy. I am so sorry about that. Why does it have to be too late?”
Finally, after he had left their family home, she wrote: “I have to go to San Francisco and talk about my wonderful life. I hope you’re enjoying your freedom. And I hope my plane crashes.”
4. Chaotic (And A Vibe): Martha Stewart’s Boyfriend, Charles Simonyi
Martha Stewart’s other significant relationship was with Hungarian billionaire Charles Simonyi, whom she dated for 15 years. Simonyi worked for Microsoft in the 1990s and was the brains behind some of the company’s most successful software, Word and Excel.
Think being the creator of Excel is a red flag? It is.
Simonyi wasn’t a stellar boyfriend. While Stewart was in prison, he only visited her once. Stewart speculated that he “didn’t like hanging out with somebody in jail.”
And he had a second red flag. Recently, Olivia Rodrigo posted that she has an unusual way of checking for red flags on dates. “I always ask [guys on first dates] if they would want to go to space. And if they say yes, I don’t date them.” Stewart could have asked Simonye the same question. In April 2007, the billionaire achieved his childhood dream, making his first of two trips to outer space. She even flew to Kazakhstan to witness Simonyi’s launch in 2007.
@raerayrairae No wonder snoop was making shows w her #marthastewart ♬ original sound – Raerayrairae
When Simonyi returned, he broke up with her. “We had this elaborate trip planned. We were visiting the president of Iceland, and we were in bed. He said, ‘You know Martha, I’m going to get married, I’m gonna get married to Lisa,'” Stewart recalled. Martha Stewart had never heard of “Lisa”, and Simonyi told her that his new fiance’s parents never wanted him to speak to her again. “How can a man who spent 15 years with me do that? What a stupid thing to do to someone that you actually care about,” she said. Facts. Simonyi married Lisa Persdotter, the daughter of a Swedish millionaire, the same year. The two are still married.
Asked whether she’s had any relationships where she talks about her feelings, she pauses and speculates that this might be why she hasn’t had many. She doesn’t care. “No, that’s probably why I haven’t had many personal relationships with men, for example. Because I couldn’t care less. It doesn’t interest me so much to know, ‘Oh Charles, how do you feel this second?
Man Of The Hour: Where Is Andrew Stewart Now?
So where is the philanderous star of Martha?
At the Premiere of her documentary in October, Stewart told People that she didn’t know if “Andy” had seen the documentary. “I haven’t seen him in 20 years. Sadly.”
Andrew Stewart has a master’s of law from Columbia University – but he went into publishing. He is still publishing and is currently the Publisher Emeritus of Fieldstone Publishing. He remains estranged from his daughter Alexis Stewart something he calls a source of “tremendous pain.” “I think of every single day, many times,” he told People.
Andrew married Robyn Fairclough, the woman he had an affair with, in 1993, but the marriage ended in divorce. He then married Shyla Nelson Stewart, the CEO of Fieldstone Publishing. They have five children and three grandchildren.
What Is Martha Stewart’s Relationship With Her Daughter Alexis Stewart?
While Martha Stewart was critical of her own mothering skills, her daughter is one of the few people she remains close to. Alex Stewart attended her mother’s trial (and fainted when she received a ‘guilty’ verdict) and visited her on many occasions during her five months in prison.
Alexis Stewart, 59, is an author and TV host. In 2011, she described her relationship with her mother as “incredibly close”, and they two share a $12.3 million duplex in New York’s Upper West Side. Alexis published a book about her life and childhood, Whateverland: Learning To Live Here, in 2011, in which she described her parent’s “very hands-off approach to child rearing.” She has also co-hosted a radio show called Whatever With Alexis And Jennifer and had a TV series called Whatever, Martha. Alexis has two children, Jude and Truman, who she had via gestational surrogate. She said her mother had been “very supportive” throughout her pregnancy journey and “desperately” wanted to be a grandmother.
What Did Martha Stewart Go To Prison For?
In 2004, Martha Stewart spent five months in prison following an insider trading scandal. Stewart was among several people who sold her stake in the biopharmaceutical company ImClone Systems before it folded. While she was not found guilty of insider trading conspiracy and obstruction of justice in a controversial case. Many at the time felt the federal agents were trying to make an example of her. Stewart’s case happened when her career was at its peak and put her company, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, in jeopardy. The companies’ stocks plunged during the trial and her imprisonment, but upon her release, she was able to rebuild her empire and resurrect her career.
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This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
