Martha Stewart

About

Martha Stewart is an American television personality, writer and entrepreneur known for her lifestyle brand, which encompasses a vast media empire of merchandising, television shows, books and magazines.

Online History

The founder of a multimedia empire, Stewart has amassed a large following online. She joined Twitter in February 2009, and as of May 2017, has over 3.7 million followers. Stewart's lifestyle brand also has garnered a massive following on Instagram. Her official Instagram, @marthastewart,^[6] has more than 1.3 million followers, while her personal one, @marthstewart48, has more than 116,000. Her facebook page has more than 2.2 million likes and 2.1 millions followers.^[7]

Bad Food Pictures

In November 2013, several websites, including Buzzfeed^[8] and Jezebel,^[8] published stories questioning Stewart's ability to take proper pictures of food. The photos, they say, often suffer from bad lighting, angles, and focus, with many of the photographs appearing blurry.

On November 20th, 2013, Stewart responded to criticisms with another food picture. This photo (shown below) included the caption "Now if any one thinks this is a bad photo you are ridiculous. Tartuffi bianchi and fettuccine at le cirque." The photo received more than 440 retweets and 320 likes.

Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party

On November 7th, 2016, VH-1 premiered Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party, a weekly variety show hosted by Martha Stewart and rapper Snoop Dogg.^[13] Potluck Dinner Party is a mix of cooking show, celebrity interviews, sketches, and musical performances. The show has attracted such stars as Seth Rogen, Ice Cube, and Rick Ross and amassed more than a million viewers weekly.

Trump Middle Finger Photo

On May 6th, 2017, Stewart was photographed at the Frieze Art Fair at Randall's Island Park in New York City between a portrait of President Donald Trump and the co-host of VH-1's tv show _Martha & Snoop's Potluck Dinner Party _, rappre Snoop Dogg. In the photo, she is holding a peace sign toward Snoop Dogg extending her middle finger toward a portrait of President Trump (shown below). The original Instagram post by user @newlin777 has been marked private, however, by that time, it had already received more than 2,600 likes and 120 comments.

Stewart posted a alternate photograph of between the portraits, in which she is only holding up peace signs, along with the caption "A propos this week Taping twenty more episodes with @snoopdogg for @vh1 Watch the awards Sunday night !!! We are presenting! Photo @seenbysharkey I am at @frieze the giant art fair on Randall's island NYC."

The post has received more than 3,900 likes. Several news media outlets covered the photograph, including Vanity Fair,^[3] E!,^[4] Uproxx^[5] and more.

Reputation

Stewart is known as a savvy entrepreneur, building a media empire from the ground up, and becoming the first female self-made billionaire in American history. In 1982, Stewart published her first book, Entertaining, a cookbook filled with photos and recipes from Stewart's own personal dinner party. Follow the success of Entertaining, she released several more books throughout the 80s. In 1990, she launched her magazine Martha Stewart Living, and 2002, the magazine's circulation was more than 2 million copies per issue.

Criticism

Insider Trading Conviction

On December 27th, 2001, Stewart successfully avoided a loss of more than $45,000 thanks to material, nonpublic advice from her stockbroker regarding the crashing ImClone Systems Stock.

On June 4th, 2003, Stewart was indicted on nine counts, including lying about a stock sale.^[10] In July 2004, the court sentenced Stewart to five months in prison and a fine of more than $41,000.^[11] She was incarcerated between October 2004 and March 2005, after which she staged a successful comeback.

Personal Life

Born on August 3rd, 1941 in Jersey City, NJ, Stewart began working at age 10, babysitting for the children of several professional baseball players, including Mickey Mantle and Yogi Berra. She began working in TV as a model in commercials at age 15.

Stewart married her first and only husband Andrew Stewart in 1961. Together, they had a child, Alexis, in 1965. They divorced in 1990.^[12]

Search Interest

External References