Martha Stewart Has Her Own Version of Her and Ina Garten’s Falling-Out

Martha Stewart says there are misconceptions about why her once-close friendship between her and Ina Garten ended. The culinary giants agree that their friendship fazed, but the reasons why differ.  In her 2024 memoir Be Ready When the Luck Happens, Garten says her move to Connecticut and Stewart spending time in Bedford, N.Y. caused a strain. But as Stewart told Bravo honcho Andy Cohen during a recent appearance on Watch What Happens Live, she says the reason was more to keep Garten’s image intact. “She can write whatever she wants,” Stewart said, with her adding, “That’s not true.”

Stewart participated in the late-night program alongside WWHL to celebrate her longtime friend and collaborator  Snoop Dog’s, birthday. The rapper was not afraid to come to Stewart’s defense. “That’s weak,” Snoop replied. “Martha, don’t fall out with people.”

Stewart added that her former friend stopped speaking with her, “after I went to jail. Snoop joked, “See, that’s when I stepped in.”

In a recent interview with New Yorker, Garten said of her move and how it caused distance between her and Stewart: “When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me. I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”

Stewart’s publicist clapped back, saying Stewart is “not bitter at all and there’s no feud.” Garten denied that Stewart’s prison sentence caused their estrangement. Stewart spent five months in prison. 

Garten has praised Stewart publicly previously, calling Stewart a “trailblazer” in the lifestyle industry during a 2017 appearance on the How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black podcast. She reflected on meeting Stewart in the 90’s, noting, “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.”