Inside Martha Stewart's Feud With The Woman Who Reported On Her Insider Trading Scandal

Martha Stewart's tragic life has not been one free from scrutiny. The media mogul especially found herself under pressure amid the trading scandal that landed her behind bars in 2004. Journalist Andrea Peyser of The New York Post did not hold back during her coverage of the case and her relationship with Stewart has since gotten messy.

Stewart recalled seeing Peyser in the courtroom in the Netflix documentary about her life, "Martha." She said, "New York Post lady was there, just looking so smug. She had written horrible things during the entire trial. But she is dead now, thank goodness. And nobody has to put up with the crap she was writing all the time." However, Peyser is alive and well, still writing for The New York Post. "I'm alive, b***h!" she wrote in her column following Stewart's comment. "News of my passing came as a shock. Rather than feeling angry or worried that Martha has offed me, or to seek an emergency order of protection, I am overwhelmingly sad in the face of Martha's bitterness."

What were these "horrible things" Stewart recalled Peyser having written about her? In one Post article, for example, Peyser wrote that Stewart looked "like a gardener who moonlights as a dominatrix," and that she was playing the "girly card" to win the jury over. "Even as Martha's measurements were being taken for that prison jumpsuit," Peyser wrote in another Post piece, "she proved, beyond remaining doubt, that she is simply incapable of getting it. But soon enough, Martha dear, you're likely to have that lesson you refuse to swallow rammed right into your noggin." The paper even showed Stewart on its front page wearing a prisoner uniform with a ball and chain on her foot. And it's clear this coverage left a lasting impression.

Martha Stewart later laughed off her mixup, saying "That will probably cause more people to watch my documentary," according to The New York Post. Yet many fans are empathizing with her frustration over the journalists as the high level of media attention, according to The Los Angeles Times, may have influenced the severity of the verdict in 2004: five months in prison. In a 2005 interview with David Letterman on "The Late Show," fans shared their feelings about her conviction in the comment section. One of them read, "It was so overblown in the media. Men have done far worse but received scant attention but, most importantly, evaded prosecution." Another read, "She went to prison for what our representatives are doing every day and every night," referring to stock trading being legal for members of Congress, a privilege most Americans want revoked, per U.S. News.

The Los Angeles Times called the trial out for being "as much about her personality as the criminal code," while Tina Brown at The Washington Post wrote in 2004, "Today there's an unseemly collective greed for acts of contrition that are more about granting the public's revenge than about 'moving on.'" Brown mentioned Stewart was stuck in the narrative of a "Power-driven, controlling B***h Superwoman caught in illegal deception reveals the Truth behind her Perfect Mask, is brought low, begs for forgiveness, performs her penance, and becomes a Better Person," adding, "She is not a person anymore. She is a character in a soap opera who is muffing her lines."

It's still a mystery why Stewart believed Peyser was dead. However, 20 years later, it seems her fanbase is stronger than ever, praising her openness in her documentary as she talked about some of the most painful moments of her life.