The comments were made in October on the Facebook page of Shyla Nelson Stewart, the current wife of Martha Stewart's ex-husband, Andy Stewart, who was married to the icon for 29 years from 1961 to 1990.
In Netflix's new documentary, which was released on Wednesday, Oct. 30 and is titled "Martha," Stewart, now age 83, calls out her ex-husband for his adultery: "Young women, listen to my advice, if you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of s---. Get out of that marriage," she says in the film, also detailing her own affairs.
In a post on Facebook, Nelson Stewart condemned Stewart's comments on her past: "While Andy quietly moved on and forward with his life, it appears that Martha continues to publicly relitigate the marriage, including comments in a sensationalized trailer for an upcoming documentary on Netflix," she writes, also calling the 29-year marriage "painful and abusive."
"The juxtaposition of Andy’s early life with the joy-filled, purpose-led, loving marriage we live today is striking. Every day, we openly express our gratitude for our love and for our life together," Nelson Stewart continues.
She also counters Stewart's account of her ex-husband with her own perspective on him, calling Andy Stewart "one of the gentlest, most soft-spoken, kind-hearted men I’ve ever known."
Stewart goes into great detail about her ex-husband's affairs in the documentary, including one with a woman doing flower arrangements at the couple's former Fairfield County home in Westport. She had been staying in an apartment in a barn on their property, and Andy Stewart began a relationship with her while Stewart was away, the homemaking icon says.
"I kicked her out immediately," Stewart says in the film, adding, "You know, 'What the hell are you doing?' Andy betrayed me, right on our property. Not nice."
Stewart also says in the end, it was her husband who wanted to divorce after 29 years together.
"He was throwing me away. I was 40 years old. I was gorgeous. You know, I was a desirous woman. But he was treating me like a castaway. He treated me really badly. And in return, I guess I treated him badly," she says in the film.
According to People, Stewart's friend, Kathy Tatlock, said that the failed marriage was "always strained." The outlet also reports more of Tatlock's comments:
"Andy was extremely busy in his publishing business and when he was around, it was always strained. She was critical of him in terms of what he’d be wearing or how he said something. Andy handled her business arrangements. Over the years, they were much more like colleagues than partners in life," the outlet reports Tatlock as saying.
Stewart's representatives did not respond to the outlet's request for comment, People reported.
During the 29-year marriage, the Stewarts lived together in their Westport home, which is now sold. Stewart now lives in the Northern Westchester hamlet of Katonah and has also lived on Long Island, in East Hampton.
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