Martha Stewart Says Ina Garten Was Extremely Unfriendly

Even though Martha Stewart and Ina Garten have a long history together, their friendship hasn't always been smooth sailing.

Speaking with The New Yorker for a fresh story on Garten, 76, that was released earlier this month, Stewart, 83, discussed the hardship that the couple was experiencing in their union. Stewart remembered a different account of what transpired, despite Garten's statement to the outlet that she and the Martha Stewart Living star lost contact after Stewart started spending more time at a new house in Bedford, New York.

"She stopped talking to me when I was sent to Alderson Prison," Stewart claimed. "That was really upsetting and unfriendly, in my opinion." Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction, and two counts of lying to investigators for her involvement in an insider trading incident in 2004—despite her insistence to the contrary. She received a sentence that included two years of closely monitored probation, five months in jail, and five months of home confinement.)

Garten "firmly" refuted Stewart's memory of their friendship ending, while Susan Magrino, Stewart's longtime publicist, insisted that Stewart was "not bitter at all" about the fallout.

Magrino, 62, told The New Yorker, "There's no feud."

When Stewart was shopping at Garten's now-closed Barefoot Contessa boutique in East Hampton, New York, in the early 1990s, they first became acquainted.

The head of Crown Publishing at the time, Chip Gibson, told The New Yorker, "We were in a gigantic black Suburban." "And then all of a sudden, she nearly crashed to the curb and said, 'I have to get lemon squares.'"

Garten described their 2017 encounter to TIME, saying, "My desk was right in front of the cheese case and we just ended up in a conversation." "I ended up catering the benefit that we actually did together at her house, and we became friends after that."

Later, Stewart introduced Garten to an editor who would later collaborate with the future Food Network star on The Barefoot Contessa, her debut cookbook. In a 1999 episode of her Martha Stewart Living, Stewart first introduced viewers to Garten, some ten years after they first met.

"It took a while, but I finally understood what motivated Ina, realizing that here was a true kindred spirit with really similar but unique talents," Stewart wrote in the foreword of Garten's cookbook. You may also read this: Taylor Swift, The '22' T-shirt That She Wore To The 'eras Tour' Shows

Additionally, Someone's in the Kitchen With Ina was the working title of a show that Stewart's production business attempted to assist Garten's television career begin on the Food Network. Garten claimed she realized TV wasn't for her and the show was canceled when a director reprimanded her for eating something while speaking on camera.

Later, from 2002 until 2021, she starred in the popular culinary program Barefoot Contessa on the network.

Garten hasn't held back while praising Stewart, despite years of allegations of animosity between the two.

"She took something that wasn't valued, which is home arts, and raised it to a level that people were proud to do it and that completely changed the landscape," the woman previously told TIME. "I think she did something really important," she said. "I then decided to go my own way, saying that even after 40 years in the food industry, I'm still not a trained professional chef, and cooking is really difficult for me."