Marth Stewart Tells All

IN AN EYE-OPENING NEW DOCUMENTARY, THE DOMESTIC DIVA SETS THE RECORD STRAIGHT ON HER ROCKY MARRIAGE, THE TIME SHE HAD SPENT IN PRISONAND AN UNLIKELY REINVENTION

- ANA CALDERONE

Martha Stewart has been teaching for decadesthrough cookbooks, on TV, in magazines that bear her name. Now she's schooling the world on the events of her own storied life in the new Netflix documentary Martha (streaming Oct. 30). "I just hope that everyone gets a few life lessons from the film and understands what's been going on," says Stewart, who will also release her 100th cookbook on Nov. 12. (Get a recipe from it on page 61.) No hard topic is off the table. Stewart, 83, reveals that both she and her ex-husband, publisher Andy Stewart, had affairs during their marriage. She details the ups and downs of her career, which peaked when she became the first female billionaire in the U.S. and hit bottom after she was found guilty of obstruction and conspiracy charges related to a stock sale and sent to prison. "Everything she was going to do was going to be perfectly perfect," says friend Kathy Tatlock. "And I think in a way, it ruined her life." When Stewart wasn't up for speaking about a topic, she provided filmmaker R.J. Cutler with personal letters that revealed her inner thoughts. The "original influencer" who staged an incredible comeback, Stewart "was set free by going to prison," says Martha Stewart Living founding editor Isolde Motley. Read on for the biggest bombshells from the documentary.