Martha Stewart said she met her ex-husband Andy Stewart when she was a student at Barnard College and he at Yale (Celeste Sloman/The New York Times)
In the new Netflix documentary, Marthathe renowned businesswoman and gastronomic celebrity Martha Stewart remembers her youth, her relationship with her ex-husband Andy Stewart and the challenges of their marriage. In the production, the 83-year-old star reflects on how she met Andy while she was studying at Barnard College in New York and he was studying law at Yale University. The two met through Andy’s sister, who was Martha’s classmate.
Martha says that on their first date, Andy picked her up in a small yellow Mercedes sedan, a type of car in which she “never been before”he recalled. For Martha, the meeting was special, thanks to the fact that at all times he seemed “educated, handsome and with experience of having traveled a lot”, qualities that captivated her. “I had an American Express card, which was a very important thing at that time”he added.
Stewart commented that her father opposed her marriage to Andy because he was Jewish (Photo Andy Kropa/Invision/AP, file)
Over time, the relationship between the two strengthened, and Martha began traveling weekly to New Haven, Connecticut, to visit him, when she was only 19 years old.
“I had never slept with anyone before this.”Stewart revealed in the documentary. “He was very aggressive and I liked that”. Finally, Andy proposed to her, and she considered it “a natural thing,” although she encountered resistance from her father, who disapproved of the relationship for religious reasons.
“I went home and told my dad, and he slapped me.”he recalled. “‘No. You’re not going to marry him. He’s Jewish’”Stewart says his father, whom he describes as “impulsive and racist,” told him. Determined to continue with her plans, Martha married in 1961 with a wedding dress that she made herself and, four years later, they had their only daughter, Alexis. About the wedding, she commented that it was a “very happy day.”
Martha married Andy in 1961, wearing a wedding dress she made herself, and the couple had their daughter Alexis in 1965 (REUTERS/Andrew Kelly)
In the documentary, he also recalled the difficult moments in his marriage, including the infidelityboth hers and Andy’s. During her honeymoon in Florence, Martha admits that she kissed a “very handsome man” in the Duomo and, years later, during her career as a stockbroker in the 1960s, she had a “brief affair” with an Irishman. “It was nothing”Martha clarified. “I would never have broken up a marriage because of that.”he added.
The documentary presents the testimony of Andy, who maintains that he was not unfaithful until after Martha was. She acknowledges that during that period he had several extramarital affairs, including one at the couple’s property in Westport, Connecticut, while she was writing cookbooks.
Infidelity was a recurring theme in her marriage to Andy (REUTERS/Tom Brenner)
Martha and Andy’s marriage ended in divorce in 1990. Since then, they have had no communication for 20 years, a fact that she admits deeply affects her to this day. “Getting divorced was a terrible thing for me.because we were the first to get divorced in my family,” he told the magazine People in 2020.
“And that we haven’t spoken since is even more painful. But I am very strong and I am very motivated to move forward with my life,” acknowledged the celebrity, who is now a neighbor of Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively, a couple with whom she is also quite close.
Martha and Andy divorced in 1990, and since then they have not had contact, something that she admitted is painful (Photo Courtesy Más Chic/ Pulpo PR)
The documentary, in addition to exploring Martha Stewart’s personal life, offers insight into her career and how she overcame personal challenges to establish herself as a leading figure in the culinary and lifestyle fields. “A prosperous career. A beautiful house. A successful husband. Everything in Martha Stewart’s life seemed perfect. But at what cost?” describes the official Netflix synopsis, where the documentary is now available.
