In a new Netflix documentary, Martha Stewart reveals that her father slapped her when she got engaged to her fiancé, Andrew Stewart because he was Jewish in articles published by Business Insider and The Independent.
She recounts, "I went home and told my dad [about the engagement], and my dad slapped me. And he slapped me hard on my face and said, 'No, you're not marrying him. He's a Jew.' I remember getting that slap."
Martha Stewart added about her father's behavior, "I was not at all surprised because he was a bigot. And he was impulsive." Despite her father's disapproval, she made it clear that she wasn't calling off her engagement, telling her father, "I'm going to get married no matter what you think."
Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart tied the knot in 1961 before getting divorced in 1990. Reflecting on her wedding day, Martha Stewart said, according to Business Insider and The Independent."
The wedding day was very happy, very nice. It was the beginning of my life." Her mother stepped in to help make her wedding dress, which Martha thought was "beautiful." Martha Stewart and Andrew Stewart share one daughter, Alexis Stewart, who is 59 years old. Martha Stewart has confessed to having an affair during her marriage to Andrew Stewart.
Opening up about childhood, relationship with father
In the documentary, Martha Stewart opens up about her childhood, describing the complicated relationship she had with her father, Edward Kostyra. She said her drive for perfectionism came from her father and noted that there was a habit of being a "perfectionist" in the family, which started with him. She reflects on her relationship with her father, stating, "I was the ideal daughter. I wanted to learn, he had a lot to teach, and I listened." She added, "It was very obvious to everybody that I was his favorite. He thought I was more like him than the other children." Martha Stewart said, "I was the one trusted to iron his linen shirts," referring to her father's trust in her.
However, she also described her father as a "dissatisfied, unhappy human being" who would sometimes begin the day with a glass of red wine alongside his coffee. She said, according to Business Insider and The Independent "So is that an alcoholic? Maybe. But he never looked like a drunk. He never stumbled around and threw things or broke things." Martha Stewart described her father: "He had the Harris Tweed jacket and the turquoise-blue tie that matched his beautiful blue eyes. My father was the handsomest father." Despite his good looks, she claimed that while her father was a "perfectionist," he "was a failure in work," as he was "stuck in a salesman job."
Martha Stewart's siblings also shared their experiences with their father. Her brother, Frank Kostyra, claimed he and his siblings received their "whoopings" from their father with a "yardstick," which they "dreaded." He said their father would whip his children with a yardstick or the end of a belt. Another brother, Eric Scott, said their father "couldn't support six children" and they needed food. He added that when their father would give his children an order and if they "didn't follow through, [they] paid the penalty." Eric Scott added, "To this day, I despise gardening."
Martha Stewart claimed her father was very critical of his children when they were gardening. She said, "He stood over you like a sergeant. Mean. Mean. 'You're not doing it right,'" pretending to be her father. She also mentioned that they had their gardens, and her family would trade things from there "for goods that [they] couldn't grow." In the documentary, she says about her father, "Dad made each of us learn how to garden. He could grow anything."
Martha Stewart's sister, Kathryn Evans, also features in the Netflix documentary. Her younger sister, Laura Plimpton, died in 2014 at age 59 after suffering a massive brain aneurysm. Her younger brother, George Christiansen, died unexpectedly in 2017 at age 64 after suffering a suspected heart attack.