Martha Stewart has clarified which journalist she was referring to by commenting ‘she’s dead now, thank God’ after igniting a dramatic firestorm.
The lifestyle mogul made the scathing comment in her new Netflix documentary while addressing coverage of her 2004 trial in connection with an insider trading case.
In her new film, Stewart can be heard saying, “The lady from the New York Post just looked so smug. She had written terrible things throughout the process. She’s dead now, thank God, and no one has to put up with that shit she was writing all the time.”
The statement sparked a flurry of speculation, with viewers interested to know who she might be talking about.
New York Post columnist Andrea Peyser then came forward with a piece stating that she was indeed not dead, assuming the comment was about her, presumably because she covered Stewart’s trial and had named her publication .
Peyser addressed the household expert directly in a first-person piece published on the New York Post website, writing, “Two decades later, she still fantasizes about (planning?) my gruesome demise.”
Stewart has now clarified her comments, telling CNBC that it was actually New York Times journalist Constance Hays who she is glad is dead – and not Peyser.
Hays, a longtime business reporter at the Times, died just a year after covering Stewart’s trial at age 44 after suffering from cancer.
“That was some sloppy fact-checking by my team on the documentary,” Stewart said.
Martha Stewart finally set the record straight as the lifestyle mogul revealed the identity of the journalist she spitefully referred to in her now infamous documentary
New York Post journalist Andrea Peyser called out Stewart in a scathing article as she declared, “I’m still alive, b**ch!”
Stewart said Peyser was never mentioned by name in the film and has “no idea” why she assumed the reference was about her.
She also emphasized that her words were directed at Hays, while doubling down on Tuesday on her deep-seated dislike of the reporter.
‘I’m sorry to her family, but I didn’t like Constance Hays. I didn’t like what she did to me every day. It was terrible, and not very accurate and not very true and not very kind,” she said.
Still, Peyser wasn’t free from Stewart’s hate train when the television personality said, “Andrea Peyser wrote the same c*** she always writes, but I wasn’t talking about her.”
“She needs to get off her high horse and stop thinking that I’ve been thinking about her for the last fifteen years.”
The Post journalist had referenced comments Stewart made in her Netflix documentary and delved into the author’s childhood, her only marriage and even her stint in prison.
Referring to Stewart as the “Domestic Dominatrix,” Peyser wrote, “It’s been twenty years since Martha Stewart traded in her Manolo stilettos for ballerinas, her 1,000-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets for a lumpy, polyester-blend bunk bed. lower half, she moaned – as she became the most fantastic and infuriating inmate to ever grace Club Fed.”
Stewart said she never mentioned a name in the film and has “no idea” why Peyser assumed she was referring to her. Stewart insisted her intention was for Hays as she doubled down on Tuesday on her deep-seated dislike of the reporter
The columnist then joked: ‘The news of my death came as a shock. Should I be afraid to continue writing that ‘nonsense’?’ before labeling Stewart a “petty and abusive perfectionist.”
Peyser’s digs didn’t stop there, however, as she claimed that the TV star “has gone from billionaire to mere multi-millionaire.”
The journalist went on to say that she “gets the feeling” that Martha is “lonely,” describing her as a “cold and indifferent mother” to her only child, Alexis.
‘She’s rich. She is beautiful, creative and temperamental. I feel sorry for her,” Peyser concluded her article.
The retail businesswoman was also mocked during Saturday Night Live’s opening monologue performed by the 365 singer.
“When Martha gets angry about an old magazine article and says she’s glad the journalist who wrote it is dead, that’s a piece of shit,” the singer said.
“And last Friday, when that exact journalist responded and said, ‘Hey, I’m still alive, b****’, that’s an extraordinary brat.”
Stewart was found guilty of conspiracy and obstruction and two counts of making false statements in March 2004 after a six-week trial.
She was imprisoned in October that same year, before being released in March 2005 and spent a further five months in house arrest.
After watching the documentary last week, viewers were stunned by Stewart’s scathing attack on Peyser and took to X – formerly known as Twitter – to comment.
“Martha Stewart, I didn’t know your game,” one wrote, while another said, “I don’t care, I love Martha!”
A third said: ‘Martha literally makes me laugh during this Netflix documentary.’
“She’s so real because of this,” a fourth commented, while a fifth added: “This doc is brilliant. If you don’t like Martha, this won’t make you – but Martha is authentic and that’s what I’m here for.”