Martha Stewart opened up about her life with director RJ Cutler in her Netflix documentary Martha.
However, the media mogul isn’t entirely happy with the final version of her documentary, and criticized the director for not editing some scenes she didn’t like.
“Those final scenes where I’m like a lonely old lady walking bent over in the park? Boy, I asked him to get rid of those,” Stewart told The New York Times. “And he refused. I hate those final scenes. I hate them.”
Although Stewart was not happy with the final scenes, she admitted that she liked “the first half of the documentary.”
Stewart also criticized the second half of the documentary, which focuses on the allegations of insider trading and obstruction of prosecution that landed her in federal prison.
“It wasn’t that big of a deal,” Stewart said. “The actual trial and imprisonment was less than two years out of 83 years of life. I considered it a vacation, to tell you the truth… The trial itself was very boring. Even the judge fell asleep. RJ didn’t even put that in. The judge was asleep on the benches.” Substitutes I wrote it in my diary every day.
Another complaint Stewart found “shocking” was that the director “used very little” material from her personal archive. The celebrity chef also noted that her grandchildren were omitted, saying: “There’s not even any mention.”
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Stewart also stated that she requested that rap music be used in the documentary, but the director did not follow through.
“I told RJ, ‘A key part of the movie is that you have to play rap music.’” Dr. Dre would probably record it, or [Snoop Dogg] Or Frederick. I said: I want that music. “Then he had a bad classical score there, which had nothing to do with me,” she said in the interview.
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Despite Stewart’s criticism, she hopes the documentary will inspire women, something she already experiences.
“I’ve actually had a lot of girls tell me – young women – that watching it gave them a strength they didn’t know they had,” she said. “And that’s the thing I like most about the documentary. It really shows a strong woman standing up for herself and going through horror as well as some great success.
Cutler has directed other docs featuring the likes of Billie Eilish, Dick Cheney, and Elton John, with the latter set to premiere in December on Disney+.
Although the director did not comment on Stewart’s own complaints, he said, “I’m really proud of this movie, and I admire Martha’s courage in entrusting me to direct it. I’m not surprised that it’s hard for her to see sides of it.”
“Martha is a movie, not a Wikipedia page,” Cutler noted, adding: “It’s the story of an incredibly interesting human being who is complex and visionary and fascinating.”
