Martha Stewart and Ina Garten are two of the biggest names in the lifestyle space, but their onetime friendship has, apparently, evaporated.
They first crossed paths in the early 1990s when Stewart went shopping at Garten’s now-closed Barefoot Contessa shop in East Hampton, New York.
“My desk was right in front of the cheese case and we just ended up in a conversation,” Garten recalled in a 2017 interview with TIME. “We ended up actually doing benefits together where it was at her house and I was the caterer, and we became friends after that.”
Nearly a decade later, the pair’s bond allegedly fractured.
Martha Stewart: Ina Garten Was ‘Extremely Unfriendly’ During Prison Stint
“When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me,” Stewart alleged in a September 2024 interview with The New Yorker. “I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”
Stewart was found guilty on felony charges of conspiracy to obstruct and of making false statements to federal investigators. She was sentenced to five months in prison and a two-year period of supervised release. The Martha Stewart Living alum was released from jail in March 2005.
Garten, however, claimed on numerous occasions that Stewart’s recollection of their feud isn’t accurate.
So, what’s the real story of Stewart and Garten’s apparent feud? Allow Us to explain:
The Headline
The two lifestyle gurus used to be thick as thieves, but Stewart’s jail sentence apparently caused a rift — if you ask her. Garten, however, sees it a different way.
“Well, let’s just say her story isn’t exactly accurate,” Garten said during a December 2024 People Q&A. “You know, that was 25 years ago. I think it’s time to let it go.”
The Key Players
Both Stewart and Garten are renowned for their recipes and decor tips, which they’ve shared on respective cooking shows and cookbooks for many years. Stewart helmed her Martha Stewart Living series between 1993 to 2004 and The Martha Stewart Show between 2005 to 2012. She published her first cookbook in 1982.
Garten, meanwhile, opened her Barefoot Contessa shop in 1978. Within years, she expanded the retail front and started selling cookbooks. A Barefoot Contessa show later debuted on Food Network in 2002.
After Stewart started shopping at Barefoot Contessa, she brought a book publisher along one day — the rest is history for Garten’s literary career.
Snoop Dogg Defends Martha Stewart Over Ina Garten Falling-Out
The Gist
Garten published a memoir titled Be Ready When the Luck Happens in September 2024 in which she wrote about their once-tight bond. In it, she claimed the pair simply lost touch when Garten moved away from New York to Connecticut. Stewart, meanwhile, asserts that the BFF breakup occurred when she was sentenced to jail.
Stewart also has no plans to read Garten’s book in full.
“She can write whatever she wants,” Stewart quipped on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, doubling down on her account that the falling-out started with her prison sentence. She added that she’s only skimmed “parts” of the memoir.
Why It’s a Big Deal:
While both lifestyle gurus are individually successful, Stewart and Garten frequently praised one another before their apparent feud.
“I think she did something really important, which is that she took something that wasn’t valued, which is home arts, and raised it to a level that people were proud to do it and that completely changed the landscape,” Garten told TIME in 2017. “I then took it in my own direction, which is that I’m not a trained professional chef, cooking is really hard for me — here I am 40 years in the food business, it’s still hard for me.”
What People Are Saying:
Stewart has since become tight with Snoop Dogg — a friendship that surprised Us all. During a joint WWHL appearance in October 2024, the rapper asserted that Stewart doesn’t “fall out with people.”
What We’re Saying:
Stewart and Garten are both culinary icons and rightfully take up space in the thriving lifestyle industry. Why do we need to pit two successful women against each other in the first place? Plus, not everyone needs to be best friends — whatever the reason.
What’s Next:
With both Stewart and Garten sticking to their stories, it’s unlikely that a future reconciliation is possible.
