Cookbook author Martha Stewart is very unhappy with the final version of her new Netflix documentary, “Martha,” claiming she made requests that director R.J. Cutler did not honor.
“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,” the 83-year-old celebrity told The New York Times in an interview published Wednesday. “And he refused. I hate those last scenes. Hate them.”
Stewart said she was happy with parts of the project, including the first half, but took issue with some elements that made the final cut. The TV personality especially didn’t care for how much of the documentary focused on her trial and time spent in prison for her involvement in an insider trading scheme.
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“It was not that important,” Stewart told the outlet. “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. R.J. didn’t even put that in. The judge was asleep at the bench. I wrote it in my diary every day.”
The celeb called out other decisions, including Cutler’s choice not to include her grandchildren, or take most of the material used in the documentary from her personal archive. Stewart had also requested that the project include rap music.
“I said to R.J., ‘An essential part of the film is that you play rap music.’ 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,” she added.
Even though she’s not happy with it, Stewart said she hopes the documentary will positively impact viewers.
“So many girls have already told me — young women — that watching it gave them a strength that they didn’t know they had,” she told NYT. “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.”
Cutler has yet to address Stewart’s criticisms but has said he’s “really proud” of the film. “I admire Martha’s courage in entrusting me to make it. I’m not surprised that it’s hard for her to see aspects of it,” the director said.
