Martha Stewart, the renowned businesswoman and television personality, has voiced strong disapproval of a recent Netflix documentary chronicling her life and career.
Stewart, now 83 and a well-known media figure in the U.S., expressed dissatisfaction with the production, direction, and editing choices in Martha, directed by RJ Cutler.
Despite her cooperation and extensive contemporary interviews, Stewart found the final product disappointing.
In an interview, Stewart was candid about her frustrations, noting that while she granted Cutler “total access” to her archives, “very little” of it made it into the film. “It was just shocking,” she commented.
Stewart took particular issue with the film’s closing segment, for which she unsuccessfully requested a re-edit. “Those last scenes with me looking like a lonely old lady walking hunched over in the garden?” she said. “I told him to get rid of those. And he refused.”
Stewart added that the segment failed to mention her ruptured Achilles tendon, which required surgery, leading to her slight limp at the time. “I hate those last scenes.
Hate them,” she emphasized. “But again, he doesn’t even mention why – that I can live through that and still work seven days a week.”
Cutler, known for previous documentaries on figures like Billie Eilish, Elton John, and Anna Wintour, is no stranger to biographical storytelling.
His film debut, The War Room, a documentary on Bill Clinton’s 1992 campaign, was nominated for an Academy Award. However, Stewart critiqued multiple aspects of Martha, calling the score “lousy” and the cinematography unflattering.
She had envisioned rap music as an integral part of the film’s score, even suggesting that Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, or Fredwreck could contribute.
Stewart, who co-hosted the show Potluck Dinner Party with Snoop Dogg from 2016 to 2020, felt a hip-hop influence would have been more authentic to her public persona.
“I said, ‘I want that music,’” Stewart recalled. “And then he gets some lousy classical score in there, which has nothing to do with me.”
Stewart also criticized Cutler’s choice of camera angles, remarking that, despite using three cameras, he chose what she considered the least flattering shots.
“He chooses to use the ugliest angle,” she said. “I told him, ‘Don’t use that angle! That’s not the nicest angle. You had three cameras. Use the other angle.’ He would not change that.”
Another point of contention was Cutler’s focus on her 2004 trial, which resulted in her conviction for felony stock trading charges.
Stewart found this focus disproportionate, saying, “It was not that important. The trial and the actual incarceration was less than two years out of an 83-year life. I considered it a vacation, to tell you the truth.”
However, Stewart did appreciate parts of the documentary, particularly the first half, which she felt delved into lesser-known aspects of her life.
She shared that young female viewers had given her positive feedback, telling her the film had inspired them. “So many girls have already told me that watching it gave them a strength that they didn’t know they had,” she said.
“And that’s the thing I like most about the documentary. It really shows a strong woman standing up for herself and living through horror as well as some huge success.”
“That’s what I wanted the documentary to be,” she added. “It shouldn’t be me boasting about inner strength and any of that crap. It should be about showing that you can get through life and still be yourself.”
Cutler responded to Stewart’s criticisms, saying, “I am really proud of this film, and I admire Martha’s courage in entrusting me to make it. I’m not surprised that it’s hard for her to see aspects of it.”
Stewart’s experience echoes that of other high-profile personalities, like Alanis Morissette, who in 2021 disavowed the documentary Jagged, alleging that director Alison Klayman had misrepresented her story.
Morissette claimed she was “lulled into a false sense of security” and that the filmmakers’ “salacious agenda” became evident upon her first viewing.
