Martha Stewart says Ina Garten was ‘unfriendly’ amid prison stint

Martha Stewart is singing like a bird when it comes to her beef with Ina Garten.
Snoop Dogg’s BFF called out the Barefoot Contessa in a new profile for The New Yorker about the latter’s life and career, telling the outlet that Garten stopped talking to her when she went to prison for insider trading in 2004.
“When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me,” Stewart told The New Yorker in an interview published on Sept. 9. “I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.” However, Garten told the outlet the former friends lost touch when Stewart spent more time at a new property in Bedford, New York.
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The lifestyle guru served an infamous five-month sentence for lying to federal investigators about a stock sale. In March of 2005, she was released from Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia. After Stewart’s comments to The New Yorker, her publicist and friend Susan Magrino tried to clarify to the outlet that the ex-Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover model was “not bitter at all and there’s no feud.”
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USA TODAY reached out to reps for Stewart and Garten for comment.
The New Yorker detailed the rise and fall of Stewart’s relationship with the Food Network star. According to the piece, Stewart was a major fan of the famous lemon bars at Garten’s now-shuttered specialty food store in the Hamptons.
Later, the pair formed a personal friendship and professional relationship. In 2000, the former “Martha Stewart Show” host’s production company launched a show starring Garten for the Food Network called “Someone’s in the Kitchen with Ina,” which didn’t make it to air.
“I remember telling my mother about it, and she said, ‘Why does she want you?'” Garten recalled, while Stewart said it was Garten’s “broad appeal.” But there also seemed to be a dash of shade from Stewart, who told The New Yorker though she “did like the coconut cupcakes,” she clarified that she has never cooked Garten’s recipes.
“The Barefoot Contessa” first aired in 2002 and two years after that, according to Stewart, everything changed. Now, Garten stars in “Be My Guest,” a Food Network series where she invites celebrities over to visit for conversation and cooking.