Martha Stewart recently described her ex-husband, Andy Stewart, as a “jerk” while discussing their contentious 1990 divorce. Stewart, 85, told People magazine on Wednesday that her ex-husband only contacted her legally to remind her of divorce settlement statements, which she admitted she never read.
Stewart and Andy tied the knot in 1961 and welcomed their daughter, Alexis, in 1965. The couple divorced in 1990 after nearly 30 years of marriage. Stewart shared in her recent Netflix documentary, “Martha,” that Andy initiated the divorce.
"He was the one who wanted the divorce, not I," Stewart stated in the documentary. "He was throwing me away. I was 40 years old. I was gorgeous. I was a desirous woman, but he was treating me like a castaway."
Stewart also acknowledged that infidelity occurred on both sides during their marriage, claiming that Andy "was running off with people." She contrasted this with her own actions, stating, "I always said I was a swan and like all swans, they are monogamous. And I thought monogamy was admirable. I did. I thought it was admirable. But it turned out that it didn’t save a marriage."
However, Stewart admitted to her own infidelity, recounting a kiss with a stranger on her honeymoon in Florence, Italy. She also revealed a brief affair with an Irish man while working as a stockbroker in New York early in their marriage, noting that she believed Andy was unaware of it.
Following the release of the documentary, Andy Stewart and his third wife, Shyla Nelson Stewart, reportedly commented that Martha was "publicly relitigating the marriage" while he had "quietly moved on and forward with his life." Andy Stewart remarried twice after his divorce from Martha, first to Robyn Fairclough in 1993 and then to Shyla Nelson Stewart in 2016.