Ina Garten is opening up about her personal life and career as she promotes her upcoming memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. She recently revealed that she and her husband Jeffrey temporarily separated and considered getting divorced. Now, in a profile on Ina published in The New Yorker, more information about her relationship with Martha Stewart has come to light.
Speaking to The New Yorker, Martha, 83, and Ina, 76, offered rather different explanations for their falling out, leading some to believe that their could be an ongoing feud between them.
Ina and Martha previously lived near each other. In 1990, Martha bought a home in the Hamptons, New York, near where Ina was living, per The New Yorker. Ina says that she and Martha lost touch when Martha started spending less time there, and instead started spending more time at a property in Bedford, New York.
Martha, however, alleged that their falling out was not about where she was living. It actually seemed to correlate with her prison stint. In 2004, Martha was found guilty of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and lying to investigators. She spent five months in prison.
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Martha alleges that this is when Ina stopped talking to her. "When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me," she told The New Yorker. "I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly."
After Martha made the comments about Ina, her publicist reached out to clarify. According to the publication, Martha's publicist and friend Susan Magrino later called to say that Martha was "not bitter at all and there’s no feud."
Ina told the publication that Martha's prison stint was not the reason for their falling out. Although Martha's comments suggest that their relationship might be a bit complicated, The New Yorker profile also details how Martha helped Ina boost her career when she was first starting out.
In 1990, when Martha and Ina were living near each other, Martha published a writeup about Ina's business, the Barefoot Contessa, in her Martha Stewart Living magazine, according to The New Yorker. Martha also helped connect Ina with the publisher of her first cookbook.
Chip Gibson, head of Crown Publishing at the time, recalled a time when Martha stopped at the Barefoot Contessa because she had to "get lemon squares." Chip remembered this when he received the proposal for Ina's cookbook, noting that her connection to Martha carried some weight.
In 2000, Martha's production company started a Food Network show starring Ina. The show didn't air, but Martha explained her reason for working with Ina at the time: "She has a broad appeal. I did like the coconut cupcakes."
However, Martha also told The New Yorker that she has never made any of Ina's recipes.
