Martha Stewart isn’t holding back when it comes to her thoughts on Martha, the new Netflix documentary chronicling her life.
The doc, which hit Netflix on October 30, promises an in-depth look at Stewart’s incredible journey—featuring personal interviews, previously unseen photos, letters and diary entries that Stewart herself opened up for the project. But if you ask the lifestyle guru, the film’s final moments didn’t exactly hit the mark.
Directed by R.J. Cutler (the man behind Anna Wintour's The September Issue and Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry), Martha had the seasoned filmmaker diving deep into Stewart’s story. However, Stewart had some pointed critiques.
“R.J. had total access, and he really used very little,” she told The New York Times. “It was just shocking.”
In particular, Stewart took issue with scenes that portrayed her “like a lonely old lady” walking hunched over in her garden. “Boy, I told him to get rid of those. And he refused. I hate those last scenes. Hate them,” she shared.
The scenes were especially tough for her, given they were filmed shortly after a major Achilles tendon surgery. “I was limping a little,” she explained, “but again, he doesn’t even mention why—that I can live through that and still work seven days a week.”
It’s not all criticism from Stewart’s side, though. She was a fan of the documentary’s start. “It gets into things that many people don’t know anything about, which is what I like about it,” she added.
Cutler declined to address Stewart’s comments directly, he stood by his work, telling The Times, “I am really proud of this film and 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.”
“It’s a movie, not a Wikipedia page… It’s the story of an incredibly interesting human being who is complicated and visionary and brilliant,” he shared.
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