What Happened Between Martha Stewart and Ina Garten? Breaking Down the Beef

Food enthusiasts Ina Garten and Martha Stewart have been a hot topic lately, and it’s not because there’s an upcoming holiday inspiring us to seek out delicious recipes. Martha has been in the spotlight simply for being Martha, while Ina’s new memoir, Be Ready When Luck Happens, released in October 2024, has drawn even more attention.

In her memoir and recent interviews, Ina opened up about her troubled childhood, a stark contrast to the host we see behind the counter on her Food Network show Be My Guest. There has also been some mention of Martha.

Despite their shared passion for cooking, rumors suggest there is (or was) a feud brewing between these two culinary queens. But what could they possibly be butting heads over? Let’s break down the buzz around their alleged beef — and no, it’s not the kind served on a plate!

Folks have been talking about the rumored beef between Ina and Martha, especially after the release of Ina’s memoir in early October 2024. During the Oct. 20 episode of Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, Martha, who was serving as a bartender while her BFF Snoop Dogg was a guest, was asked if she had read Ina’s memoir. She admitted to reading some parts, specifically those that mentioned her.

Snoop, the supportive friend that he is to Martha, wanted to know what was said, and Andy clarified that Ina claimed their falling out happened when she moved to Connecticut. Martha quickly corrected that, stating the real reason they drifted apart was because she went to prison. A quick refresher: Martha served five months in 2004 at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia.

Snoop chimed in, explaining that "Martha don’t fall out with people," and when the fallout happened, he stepped in. Andy added with a laugh, "When one friend goes out the door, another friend comes in the door."

Before confirming to Andy the reason behind her fallout with Ina, Martha revealed in an interview published in September 2024 with The New Yorker, “When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me." She added, “I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”

Before that, Ina and Martha collaborated in 2000 through Stewart’s production company to create a show with the working title Someone’s in the Kitchen with Ina, although it never made it to air. Martha was also a fan of Ina's lemon bars, which she sold at her now-closed fancy food shop, Barefoot Contessa.

While both have indicated they were friends and respected each other, there have been occasional little digs throughout their friendship. Martha told The New Yorker that while she favored Ina's coconut cupcakes, she had never cooked one of Ina's recipes. In another instance, when Ina and her husband, Jeffrey, were invited to Martha's for New Year's Eve, Martha cut the loops of a whisk and used a broom handle propped over chairs to drizzle caramelized sugar in "fine golden strands."

“She had made spun sugar!” Ina said to The New Yorker. She also called Martha "stunning," but went on to write in her memoir, “No one needs to know how to make spun sugar.” Despite their fallout, Martha's longtime publicist and friend, Susan Magrino, reached out to The New Yorker after the interview to clarify that Martha is "not bitter at all, and there’s no feud."