Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the most shocking revelations from the Netflix documentary, “Martha.”
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00It's October 18th, we have lots to do in the garden.
00:06Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're looking at the most shocking revelations from the
00:11Netflix documentary Martha.
00:13By that time, if you want to believe in mojo, I think my mojo was damaged.
00:20Number 10.
00:21Stewart was the only woman at her stockbroker firm.
00:24In addition to being the face of an empire, Martha Stewart has proven to be one of the
00:28savviest businesswomen alive.
00:30Her knack for business can be traced to her early days as a stockbroker.
00:33I started to rake in a lot of money.
00:36She was making a quarter of a million a year.
00:39Clients were making money hand over fist.
00:41Stewart's father-in-law was also a stockbroker, although women were rarely seen on Wall Street
00:46in the late 60s.
00:47Nevertheless, Andy Maness immediately sensed that Stewart would fit in at the firm, even
00:51if she would be the only woman.
00:53I had to sort of put my arm out like that.
00:56Stuff that went on in the back seat of the taxis I'm not even going to talk about.
01:01But they were really smart, and I learned a lot at that firm.
01:06For the most part, Stewart not only got along with her co-workers, but billionaires as well.
01:11While she was generally good at her job, the market is unpredictable, and Stewart prefers
01:15to be in control.
01:17Upon leaving Wall Street for Westport, Connecticut, Stewart stumbled into a new career remodeling
01:21her home.
01:22If I hadn't had Turkey Hill, I would not be me right now.
01:26But I would have been somebody.
01:27I would have been somebody else.
01:29Number 9.
01:30Stewart felt demonized in the press.
01:33With Stewart often promoting a flawless image, the media has strived to find chinks in the
01:37armor.
01:38Employees have accused Stewart of being mean and controlling.
01:41You'd hear arguments with the staff.
01:44She wanted something done a particular way.
01:47Very much of a perfectionist.
01:48It was especially damning during her 2004 trial, when Douglas Faneuil, who worked for
01:53Stewart's stockbroker Peter Bakanovich, described her as rude.
01:57This fed into the prosecution's narrative that Stewart was a cruel villain, which the
02:01press latched onto.
02:03Martha Stewart has come across as petty, as demeaning, as kind of a bad person.
02:09And you know, as much as that shouldn't matter in a case like this, it does.
02:14Stewart took this personally, but she felt obligated to keep everything on the inside
02:18as usual.
02:19When a reporter is questioning you on TV, though, it's hard to stay composed.
02:23A New York Post writer was especially nasty, garnering no sympathy from Stewart when she
02:28died.
02:29While Stewart owns up to being strict, she thought the media went too far.
02:32The press made me out to be a person that I'm not.
02:35I don't think I've been the mean and nasty and horrible person portrayed in certain publications.
02:41Number 8.
02:42Stewart's difficulty as a mother.
02:44Being a homemaking icon, one might assume that motherhood came naturally to Martha Stewart.
02:49Following the birth of her only child, Alexis, Martha struggled to find footing.
02:53I thought it was a natural thing, and it turns out it's not at all natural to be a mother.
02:59Learning from her parents' example, Martha wasn't the most openly affectionate person.
03:03Becoming a mother didn't change that, although she did take care of Alexis.
03:07As Martha's marriage to Andrew Stewart turned sour, Alexis felt compelled to repress her
03:12emotions, not unlike her mother.
03:14For all of their hardships, Martha and Alexis would get to a good place.
03:17Alexis stood by her mother during the 2004 trial, fainting when the guilty verdict returned.
03:23Throughout Martha's incarceration, Alexis visited her almost weekly.
03:26I'd get there the night before and then get up at about four in the morning and take some
03:31giant blankets because you had to get online out of your car in order to get the table.
03:37Martha's relationship with her daughter may be imperfect, but it isn't without love.
03:42Number 7.
03:43Stewart's relationship with Charles Simonyi.
03:46Aside from her ex-husband, billionaire Charles Simonyi was arguably Stewart's most serious
03:50romantic partner.
03:51Although they never exchanged vows, Stewart felt like they were essentially married.
03:55This made it all the more painful when the relationship collapsed.
03:58I don't think he liked hanging out with somebody in jail.
04:04He was out on his boat floating around the world.
04:06Among the first major signs of trouble came during Stewart's stay in prison.
04:10Simonyi only visited once, but he sent his private jet to pick Stewart up following her
04:14release.
04:15Not long after, Simonyi dropped a bombshell.
04:17We have this elaborate trip planned.
04:19We were visiting the president of Iceland and we were in bed and he said, you know,
04:24Martha, I'm going to get married.
04:25He wasn't just breaking up with her.
04:27Simonyi was marrying another woman whose parents didn't want him to maintain contact with Stewart.
04:32While they didn't make a habit of being too open with each other, this news still caught
04:36Stewart completely off guard.
04:38He was practically a second divorce to her.
04:40I thought that was the most horrible thing a person could do.
04:45How can a man who spent 15 years with me just do that?
04:51Number six, Stewart's anti-Semitic father.
04:54Martha was quick to accept when Andrew Stewart proposed.
04:57It seemed such a natural thing to do, fall in love, get married.
05:02After she broke the news to her father, he impulsively slapped Martha across the face.
05:07His father condemned the union, forbidding her from marrying a Jewish man.
05:11Although Martha was hurt, she wasn't surprised given her father's bigoted history.
05:15With or without her father's approval, Martha asserted that she was going to marry Andrew.
05:20Her mother was more understanding, helping Martha make her wedding dress.
05:24I had many tiny little organdy covered buttons down the back and it was such a beautiful
05:29little dress.
05:31Wedding day was very happy.
05:33Martha's dad would come to accept his daughter's decision and attend the wedding, yet this
05:36is just one example of how Martha shared a complex relationship with her father.
05:41He never looked like a drunk.
05:43He never stumbled around and threw things and broke things.
05:47That wasn't my father, but he was a dissatisfied, unhappy human being.
05:52Number five, Stewart's difficult upbringing.
05:55Stewart's childhood largely shaped the woman she grew up to become.
05:58For all their issues, Stewart sees much of herself in her father, who was also a perfectionist.
06:03He loved me, and it was very obvious to everybody that I was his favorite.
06:08He thought I was more like him than the other children.
06:11Among other things, he taught Martha and her five siblings how to garden.
06:15Although this would be a vital skill for Martha down the line, gardening wasn't for fun in
06:19her house.
06:20So we had gardens and we would trade for goods that we couldn't grow.
06:25He stood over you like a sergeant, mean, mean.
06:31Her family needed to grow food because they couldn't afford to feed every mouth.
06:35The garden was like a boot camp, and when somebody acted out of turn, they paid the
06:39price.
06:40As her dad struggled to provide, Martha found work as a model.
06:43Her paychecks went toward buying groceries.
06:46Martha watched her mother cook, which would be another essential trait.
06:50She was a school teacher, and she had to cook 16 meals a day.
06:54I thought that was pretty fantastic that she could do all that.
06:58But the cookie-cutter house and the cookie-cutter life, that was not for me.
07:03Number four, Stewart's insider trading trial.
07:07Outside of her homemaking, Stewart is perhaps best known for her infamous insider trading
07:11scandal.
07:12Upon receiving a tip from Peter Bukanovich about ImClone Systems, Stewart didn't think
07:16twice about selling her stock.
07:18Even after the authorities got in touch months later, Stewart and her attorneys weren't
07:23that concerned.
07:24I did exactly what my lawyers had told me, answer everything as truthfully and as honestly
07:28as I could possibly, and when I didn't remember, I said, I didn't remember, and I went back
07:32to work.
07:33The case continued to snowball, reaching a crucial moment when her best friend, Mariana
07:37Pasternak, took the stand.
07:39Pasternak's testimony enforced the prosecution's argument that Stewart was a liar.
07:43It ended a friendship and arguably made the prosecution's case.
07:47I truthfully testified as if my legal obligation was, that's why I said those words.
07:54And I looked in the courtroom, and I saw Martha's eyes.
07:57You know, that cold, icy look in her eyes.
08:01While Stewart was found guilty of obstruction of justice and conspiracy, she wasn't the
08:05only one implicated in the trading case.
08:08Some felt the prosecution singled her out because she was wealthy and a woman.
08:12I was a trophy, a prominent woman, the first billionaire woman in America.
08:20We got her.
08:21Number three, marriage and affairs.
08:24Martha married publisher Andrew Stewart in 1961.
08:27The two separated in 1987 before finalizing their divorce three years later.
08:32According to Martha, Andrew cheated with multiple women, including her former assistant.
08:37It was like I put out a snack for Andy.
08:40Did you confront her?
08:43I did, sure I did.
08:44I kicked her out immediately.
08:46You know, what the hell are you doing?
08:49Andrew and that assistant later tied the knot, but that marriage didn't last either.
08:53Martha wasn't exactly faithful herself, sharing what she described as an innocent kiss with
08:57a stranger on her honeymoon, and having a brief affair with an Irish man.
09:02And it was just nothing, it was nothing.
09:07In terms of, it would never have broken up, I would never have broken up a marriage for
09:11it.
09:12It was nothing.
09:13Martha thought Andrew never learned of her affair, although he apparently did.
09:17In any case, Martha kept up the facade of an idyllic marriage for years before finally
09:22agreeing to the divorce Andrew wanted.
09:24Martha learned a lesson she hopes young women take to heart, don't stay with adulterers.
09:28Get out of it.
09:29Get out of that marriage.
09:30But I couldn't do that, couldn't walk away.
09:34Number 2.
09:35Stewart's time in prison.
09:37Only serving a five-month sentence, there are definitely people who have had worse experiences
09:42behind bars than Stewart.
09:43Her incarceration wasn't exactly a stay at the Four Seasons, however.
09:47Arriving at the Minimum Security Facility, she was subjected to a customary strip search.
09:52The guards made it clear that they wouldn't be giving Stewart special treatment.
09:56You could have been jumped, people were jumped, beat, beaten, stuff like that happened.
10:06I was warned, but I was not protected.
10:12After Stewart accidentally made physical contact with one guard, she spent the day in solitary
10:16confinement without food or water.
10:18Not that the food was very appealing anyway.
10:21What worries me is the very poor quality of the food and the unavailability of fresh anything,
10:26as there are many starches and many carbs, many fat foods, no pure anything.
10:32Despite the less-than-ideal living conditions, Stewart found friends who shared her passion
10:36for gardening.
10:37Upon release, Stewart wasted little time getting back to work.
10:41With less control of her business and TV show format, though, Stewart still felt caged.
10:46Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
11:01about our latest videos.
11:03You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
11:08If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
11:13Number 1.
11:14The Justin Bieber Roast revived her career.
11:17Despite getting her career back on track after prison, Stewart was still at a low point in
11:212015.
11:23She revitalized her image through an unlikely appearance at the Comedy Central Roast of
11:27Justin Bieber.
11:28My publicist said, this is a little bit out of your milieu, Martha.
11:34And my daughter said, OK, Mom, yeah, sure, go out and do Comedy Central.
11:37She said, have you ever watched a Comedy Central Roast?
11:41And I said, well, I think so.
11:43I hadn't.
11:44Stewart initially wasn't aware that she would be roasted as well.
11:47Once she was given the chance to speak, Stewart established that she could not only take it,
11:51but dish it too.
11:52Thank you, Kevin Hart.
11:54It's really great to be here.
11:55Oh, there you are.
11:57Sitting and listening to you yell your jokes over the last hour is the hardest time I've
12:01ever done.
12:03Audiences were surprised to find just how funny and brutal Stewart could be.
12:07While the roast helped Bieber's image amid his legal trouble, it may have done even more
12:11for Stewart, bringing her back into the zeitgeist.
12:13It also marked the beginning of her friendship with Snoop Dogg, who supposedly gave her a
12:17contact eye.
12:18We just so happened to be sitting side by side, and my secondhand smoke, you know, created
12:23an idea that maybe we should hang out and talk about some things.
12:27Are there any details about Martha Stewart we missed?
12:30Say a good thing in the comments.
12:32I have always looked for voids.
12:34What doesn't exist?
12:35What needs to exist?
12:37What can I do to help fill that void?
12:40Do you agree with our picks?
12:41Check out this other recent clip from Ms. Mojo.
12:44And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.