Martha Stewart’s daughter fainted in court when she heard mom’s guilty verdict
Stewart was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators
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Martha Stewart’s daughter fainted after hearing the verdict in her mother’s criminal trial over 20 years ago, according to the new Netflix documentary Martha, which is out now.
“Guilty, guilty, guilty on all these counts of whatever,” Stewart said in the documentary. “My daughter, she fainted when they read the verdict. Poor child.”
“It was so horrifying and incomprehensible,” said Stewart’s daughter Alexis. “And then I woke up and was, unfortunately, still there.”
Stewart served a five-month prison sentence at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia after she was convicted of conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators. The charges stemmed from accusations of insider trading. Stewart was not convicted of insider trading during the trial.
In 2001, Stewart said she took a call from a friend who was telling her about their biotech stock. Stewart said she later sold the stock.
“Those prosecutors should have been put in a Cuisinart and turned on high,” Stewart joked in the documentary. “I was a trophy for those idiots.”
The lifestyle guru reportedly lost $1bn as a result of the scandal. By 1999, her empire was valued at $1.9bn. Her namesake stock, Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, took a nose dive and she was forced to resign from the board.
Stewart made a comeback more than a decade after the ordeal thanks to a roast for Justin Bieber. where she met Snoop Dogg. The two became a dynamic duo hosting a cooking show together and more recently co-hosting segments of the Paris Olympics.
Her net worth is currently estimated to be around $220m, Forbes reported in 2022.