1 week Ago
Martha Stewart ’s new documentary has one major critic: Martha herself. Following the release of Martha on Netflix Oct. 30, the media mogul criticized the self-titled film’s director, R.
J. Cutler , over multiple editing choices she disagreed with. “Those last scenes with me looking like a lonely old lady walking hunched over in the garden? Boy, I told him to get rid of those,” she told the New York Times in an interview published the same day.
“And he refused. I hate those last scenes. Hate them.
” The cookbook author also said she took issue with the project’s score, claiming it didn’t reflect her taste. “I said to R.J.
, ‘An essential part of the film is that you play rap music,’” Martha recalled. “ Dr. Dre will probably score it, or [ Snoop Dogg ] or Fredwreck .
I said, ‘I want that music.’ And then he gets some lousy classical score in there, which has nothing to do with me.” While the 83-year-old remarked that the director “used very little” footage from her personal archive—noting there was “not even a mention” of her two grandchildren—she also felt the doc placed too much focus on her 2004 obstruction of justice trial , which led to her serving nearly five months in federal prison.
“It was not that important,” Martha said. “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.
.. the trial itself was extremely boring.
” “Even the judge fell asleep,” she continued. “R.J.
didn’t even put that in. The judge was asleep at the bench. I wrote it in my diary every day.
” Despite her harsh critiques, Martha admitted to the outlet that she did approve of the film’s first half. She also said the feedback she’s received from female audiences has been a particular source of pride. “So many girls have already told me—young women—that watching it gave them a strength that they didn’t know they had,” she shared.
“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.” While R.
J. has not responded publicly to Martha’s remarks, he previously discussed savoring the chance to help chronicle her life. “I started reading about Martha,” he told Tudum , “and the more I did, the more it became clear to me that she was a complex person filled with so many conflicts and contradictions.
And the more I learned about her, the more excited I became about the possibility of digging deeper into her story.” The filmmaker also went on to celebrate the release of the film on social media. “MARTHA streaming now on Netflix,” he wrote in an Instagram post Oct.
30. “So proud of this film and so grateful to the amazing team who made it!”.
