Martha Stewart is looking back on life behind bars — including a stint in solitary confinement.
In 2004, the lifestyle entrepreneur was sentenced to five months in federal prison after being found guilty of conspiracy to obstruct and making false statements to federal investigators in connection with an insider trading case.
Stewart, 83, looks back on her imprisonment at Federal Prison Camp Alderson in West Virginia — which was nicknamed Camp Cupcake upon Stewart’s stay — in an upcoming Netflix documentary, Martha, including how she was placed in solitary confinement for touching a prison guard.
“Today I saw two very well-dressed ladies walking and I breezed by them, remarking on the beautiful warm morning and how nice they looked,” Stewart wrote in a letter from prison which is read out in the documentary, per People. “When I realized from the big silver key chain that they were guards, I lightly brushed the chain. Later I was called in to be told never, ever touch a guard without expecting severe reprimand.”
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Speaking on camera, Stewart says the “incident was so minor when it occurred” that she didn’t expect any punishment to follow.
But she soon realized she was wrong.
“I was dragged into solitary for touching an officer,” Stewart says in the documentary. “No food or water for a day. This was Camp Cupcake, remember? That was the nickname. Camp Cupcake. It was not a cupcake.”
A Federal Bureau of Prisons representative told Us Weekly in a statement, “The FBOP confines offenders in facilities that are safe and humane. Every individual is provided with the basic necessities of life including regular meals three times a day and access to potable water regardless of where they are housed. We respectfully decline to address allegations from 2004. Generally speaking, FBOP has important practices in place to review any placement in restrictive housing and takes seriously, and refers to appropriate investigative authorities, allegations of retaliation against adults in custody.”
Stewart’s prison letters also detailed her living conditions during her five-month stint at FPC Alderson.
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“My room contains an old double-decker bedstead metal spring and metal frame,” she wrote. “The springs are very saggy and thus an unhealthy bed set. I would actually prefer the top but over 62 years old and you automatically are given a lower bunk.”
Stewart also noted the low standards for food in the prison, writing, “What worries me is the very poor quality of the food and the unavailability of fresh anything as there are many starches and many carbs, many fat foods. No pure anything.”
Martha premieres Wednesday, October 30, on Netflix.
