Domestic Divas at War! Martha Stewart and Ina Garten’s 20-Year Feud Explained After It’s Reignited 

Martha Stewart reignited her feud with Ina Garten, claiming the reason the Barefoot Contessa gave for their falling out is “not true.” Fans want to know more about what caused their history of bad blood.

When Did Martha Stewart and Ina Garten’s Feud Start?

According to Martha, it was in 2004 when she went to prison after being convicted of conspiracy, obstruction and two counts of lying to federal investigators about a stock trade.

“When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me,” the Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook author told The New Yorker in September 2024. Martha added that this was “the end” of their friendship.

While the home decorating guru was “not bitter at all” by Ina’s snub, she “found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.” Ina later denied the claim that she gave her former friend the silent treatment.

Martha ended up spending five months in prison and went on to resume her successful TV, magazine and book empire following her March 2005 release.

In her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, which was released in October 2024, Ina claimed she and Martha fell out because she moved to Connecticut. As of 2024, Martha primarily lives on a 152-acre Westchester, New York, property known as Bedford Farm, which she purchased in 2000.

The Martha Knows Best star claimed Ina’s recollection wasn’t true when the topic was brought up during an October 20, 2024, appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen.

Andy asked Martha if she’d read Ina’s memoir, to which the former daytime TV host replied, “I’ve read parts of it.” When the host asked if she “read the part about herself,” Martha responded that she had. When asked her take on it, said Ina “can write whatever she wants.”

When Andy repeated Ina’s claim that her move to Connecticut caused the falling out, Martha stated, “That’s not true,” reiterating that they stopped talking “after I went to jail.”

When Did Martha Stewart and Ina Garten Become Friends?

According to the New Yorker article, Martha was a fan of Ina’s lemon bars that she sold at her former Hamptons store, Barefoot Contessa. The two became friends and working professionals. In 2000, Martha helped Ina launch a Food Network show, Someone’s in the Kitchen With Ina, via her production company, although the program didn’t make it to air.

“My desk was right in front of the cheese case, and we just ended up in a conversation,” Ina revealed about how they met during a 2017 appearance on appearance on the “How to Be Amazing with Michael Ian Black” podcast. “We ended up actually doing benefits together where it was at her house, and I was the caterer, and we became friends after that.”

The Cooking for Jeffrey author praised Martha as a trailblazer during the podcast.

“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,” she said. “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.”

Does Martha Stewart Think She and Ina Garten Can Become Friends Again?

The lifestyle guru doesn’t believe it’s possible. “No, she’s into her own thing. That’s OK,” Martha told People on October 21, 2024, at the New York premiere of her Netflix documentary Martha.