Martha Stewart Talks About Her Time In Jail | Letterman

all right first guess is not the not the one  but uh two new television shows Martha now   in daytime and The Apprentice Martha Stewart  which premieres September 21st on NBC here's   the one the only Martha Stewart ladies you look  wonderful you look tremendous Martha thank you   thank you very much for being on the program  and first you know during all of this well I   missed you as well I miss you they told me it was  like almost three years yeah it was crazy isn't   it yeah it seems like yesterday it really does  uh and and in that time I don't know visit me I I made uh every now and then I  would make jokes about I heard yeah TV and home and I felt I felt horrible about it  because I just felt like well I know this woman   for a long time were very good friends and  here we are making jokes about a a terribly   unfortunate situation so it's it's nice that you  came back well I know it was all in good fun and   it is your job and I always stick up for your job  well thank you I do I appreciate that now let's   let's go back in and first of all there's  two parts to this what exactly happened   tell people what exactly happened and  then when when the the the the the uh   why you went to jail what what were  you convicted of what I don't know about me Dave is that I don't have a long  memory for bad things so I'm trying very hard   to put it out of my mind and get on with the  future but in in in in legal terms they said   and I I'm not trying to be silly about this I'm  so horrible about legal terms I'm not a lawyer and   um I was married to that lawyer remember oh God I  I tried to keep all legal terms sort of out of my   vocabulary and um maybe I shouldn't have because  but uh it was well I understand the case is still   under appeal is that right yes yes it has not  been yet ruled on by the Appellate Division and   we're waiting for that that's why I'm not going  to say anything and if the if the conviction if   the conviction is overturned what what how do  they restore the the time that you spent away   um well they don't actually but um I will be  happy anyway in any event I would be very happy   and do you have a feeling that it is likely to be  overturned or you have no feeling whatsoever I'm   trying not to get my hopes up or down in any  anyway but you you chose at one point rather   to rather than wait for the appeal process  to go ahead and take the the sense well I   can't I can talk just a little bit about that  um when one is convicted and sentenced uh you   can appeal and I was I was allowed to appeal  and I could not go to Yale as we called it   we always called it Yale I always wanted to go  to Yale um so um but if I had not gone to Yale   um I would have uh no TV show this fall not not  two TVs I wouldn't have even one TV show this fall   um I would not have uh probably not have a  business because um everyone waits for things   to be over a Reconciliation of any kind was better  than never knowing exactly so um going to Alderson   was the best thing I could have done I'm glad I  did and um and whatever happens now um well I I   can I can think optimistically I can't you know I  don't want to say optimistically but I can think   optimistically now at a certain point in the in  the uh before the trial I I heard or read that   there was a possibility that there could have been  a plea bargain is that true or not no no no there   was never a plea bargain brought to you I don't  believe bargain so uh I mean I would have if I   felt I had to right and and the the the actual  conviction was not insider trading was it no it   was not it it was it was about I think obstruction  of justice obstruction of justice now in in your   heart it was a mistake a mix-up or do you  feel like well tell me what you do feel   um well since I am on appeal and I don't  really I don't want to really I just don't   want to talk I feel a little uncomfortable  talking about that right now I'll come back   after the appeal all right uh so now uh  I'll clear it up okay but we can't we   can't talk about the the five months you were in  prison oh sure okay we'll do that when we come right back everybody in life has those precipice  moments where where one second everything as you   know it is as you know it and the next even less  than a second everything as you know it might be   entirely different right so you went through a  couple of those the first was uh the the return   of the verdict what are you thinking when you're  waiting to hear the return of the verdict do you   do you have a feeling of which way it's going to  go or you don't know no we were pretty optimistic   actually and when I I heard the verdict I  actually thought I was in a bad dream and   then I heard a thunk behind me and my daughter  it fainted no and um and then it I kind of woke   up and realized that uh not only you know Not  only was I hurt but a lot of other people would   be hurt by this verdict so uh so I was shocked  back into reality right and and to what extent   I I have a very low threshold of embarrassment  you probably not know that from watching the show but I I would guess that part of this just  as a human being the the embarrassment of   all of this negative attention and and um  sort of feeding a frenzy that goes on it   was hugely embarrassing isn't it well  I was less embarrassed than horrified   and uh heart and that's a very different  feeling and uh and horrified not only for   me but for everybody around me I I mean all my  beautiful employees you know the whole thing it   was pretty horrifying right and yet um I'm pretty  strong I found out how strong I was during this   whole ordeal and uh mentally strong and also  physically strong so I um did not allow myself   to get depressed I did not allow myself to get  down too much I faced what I had to face I lived   through it with actually sort of flying colors if  you can live through Yale with flying colors and   um um I probably would have been Phi Beta  Kappa at Yale if uh if I if I treat it foreign but you you know you mentioned something there in  a list of other things you said you did not allow   yourself to be depressed and you just kept going  that's the hardest thing in the world to do on   any given day let alone the circumstances how can  you not let yourself get depressed what do you do   I mean it's it's a chemical reaction that kicks in  and there you go but I have good I have other good   chemicals too I guess but I wouldn't take pills  and I wouldn't take any AIDS I didn't I didn't   um drink you know I don't I didn't do any of that  stuff I just sort of you know waited and got done   did the thing and got it over with so now the the  announced the verdict and then later there's the   sentencing and that's another one of those moments  and you're thinking what maybe just kind of house   arrest at the worst or probation or no no I  didn't think I didn't I I was pretty prepared for   um for what what I got yeah all right  and take us through that when you it's   one of those deals like it's the  middle of the night to check you   in and are you in trouble do you want  why do you want to know all this stuff because I mean you really have been  in the fire you've been tested yeah   uh and and I think everybody wants  to know gosh how would I hold up how   many more attractive yes you are you believe me but it's so crazy you shouldn't be you know nobody  should even you know want to talk to me about it   really but no I find it but everybody's curious  very curious and and um and actually a a woman's   institution like Alderson is not a terribly  frightening place it's frightening when one day   I was walking up the hill and I told some friends  this and I realized that gosh these 1100 women   um all they it's all about them I mean they  have to walk up that hill every single day   they have to contact their families because  the families can't contact them other than by   letter they have to keep in touch they have  to do all the work and I was so fortunate   because every single visiting day I had a  guest except the day you didn't show yeah   but but again that that moment when you go in  and you realize although it's it's relatively   short period of time still in all its five years  out of a very productive months five five months   to me it would be five years it's it's five  months a very uh productive fruitful life I   mean it was there Panic was it did you no  you know I asked I asked my fellow inmates   um a couple months later I said how did I behave  that first day because everybody's watching me   they said I was walking around in the days I did  I smiled at everybody said hi to everybody even   probably people I shouldn't have said hello to but  I said hi to everybody and uh shook everybody's   hand and uh but I was in a daze I don't remember  that first date are you were your fellow inmates   uh in for was there any terrible terrible no this  is a totally non-violent violent crime did you   make friends there oh many many they're very nice  yeah and what kind of things did you do there I   mean you had jobs you had tasks I had a job for  about 12 cents an hour and I I remember telling   the captain who was a very nice man but I remember  telling him I asked him for a pair of work boots   because I one of my jobs was working inside and  outside of the captain's office and I asked them   for a pair of work boots because all I had was  my sneakers that I came in with they let me keep   them for some reason and because they were on a  budget cut because of the war and so they didn't   have shoes for me and I asked them for a pair of  work boots and he said oh they didn't have any   I'd have to buy some so I figured out it was 500  hours of work so or 600 hours of work at the 12   cents an hour and what they were charging for the  boots that so I called them my my 600 hour boots   wow yeah and in moments of lightheartedness in in  this condition in the circumstances oh yeah you're   always trying to laugh everybody's trying to be  lighthearted and get get on with the day days and   um you know I'm as a short-termer so um that  wasn't so bad but the people who were in there   for a long time they also tried to keep up a  demeanor of of of light-heartedness anybody   resent you because of your status in the comments  maybe I I heard some remarks behind my back but   um but pretty much friendliness but didn't know  no fights no hair pulling no smacking around um well one day I fell against a wall  and I and I got I slipped on some wet   floor and I got a really bad black and  blue mark on my arm and people noticed   that black I got called right down and wanted  to know who I had been in a fight with oh man   oh man and I wasn't I wasn't in a fight and I I  said oh I'm so sorry maybe I should have told you   about this I didn't know how black it would get  you know and uh it was you know that kind of stuff   yeah no I didn't get any in any fights hardly any  altercations and and uh what what have we learned   here I mean this experience has to teach you many  things would you do that um that the penal system   I mean if you want to be serious about it um  the rehabilitation uh really is non-existent   for the most part in terms of Rehabilitation yeah  it does not I worry about that and um and in terms   of personal I found out that I could really exist  with pretty much nothing um five months without   good food is a problem for for almost anybody but  you can live for five months without food yeah um   or drink or or you know any luxuries whatsoever I  heard you say that the souffles were just horrible uh at all prison souffles and then at late  at night is a tree you used to sneak into   the kitchen and drink Sterno or did I uh I don't  think there was no Sterno available and and now   uh you're you're out of prison and and uh you're  doing television shows and how is the television   show going tell us about the the Martha show what  is it I'm having so much fun with the Martha show   and uh tomorrow is a really great day it's the  Martha Stewart day we found out that there were 2   000 Martha Stewarts in America people with  the same and 180 of them or so have showed   up in New York and they're all going  to be on the show tomorrow and I just   wanted to kind of apologize for having  the same name for the last couple years   because uh some of the one lady uh well you'll  see on the show but one lady said that she had   run for an election three years ago and one  with in a landslide for a for an assessor in   her town and then she had to run again two  years later and she lost in a landslide and   sorry for her but it had nothing to do with  her talents as an assessor of course but   um but it's going to be a fun show I love  the live audience I see now why you have a   live audience even though I can't see  the live audience in this dark Studio advice man yeah you can see the audience the audience is right on our stage  you know it's right close up and uh   and everybody's and their participatory so  I get them to bring stuff we had we had a   wonderful uh day when they brought their  favorite house plant wouldn't that be fun I just want to I just want to revisit one thing  because I want to make sure I'm not missing   something here uh your composure and presentation  here this evening and this by way is mostly the   context I know you in yeah it seems to be happy  unflappable cheerful positive and you you said   that the worst part of all of this was you were  horrified and concerned about not so much yourself   but your family and everybody else and continuing  the the business and so on and so forth yeah   honestly is that the worst it got for you  through all of this yeah because you know   you worry about the people you're taking care  of that that rely on you I have a big company   Dave and you know I I didn't want but I didn't  want that company to go away because because I   understand I understand all practical concerns  but what about concerns for your well-being your   you know physically and mentally this is  you know this is not like a day in traffic and I can and I can take care of myself but you know we had Russell Crowe on here and and  he I love Russell Crowe yeah but he I mean he he   behaved like a like a frightened bunny compared  to you he did yeah you see that yeah he had thrown   a cell phone at somebody and he just uh he he you  could tell that he was Disturbed and concerned by   the whole thing well it can ruin his life actually  well that's what I'm talking about with you this   this can't ruin my life because I've I just don't  think I don't feel guilty and I don't feel um and   I feel I had an unfair trial and I you know so  there must be again a great sense of so I can feel   good feel good but what about a sense of outrage  do you feel outraged about this um that doesn't   do you any good in the system it just doesn't so  you have to go through the legal process you have   to do the thing you have to be mature you have  to uh trust your advisors you have to do all   that stuff and uh and get on with it do you think  jail would be right for me [Laughter] is some good uh Martha done now every day and uh Martha  The Apprentice Martha Stewart premieres   September 21st you're gonna watch oh  yeah I'll be there oh please uh well   it's great pleasure to see you again I  hope you come back you look tremendous   thank you congratulations on being  so good about this nice job [Music]

Channel: Letterman

Views: 287,815

Keywords: letterman, david letterman, dave letterman, interview, letterman interview, letterman official, letterman late show, letterman late night, late night, stupid pet tricks, stupid human tricks, top ten, late show, top ten list

Id: vsP9STgjE-k

Length: 16min 22sec (982 seconds)

Published: Wed May 17 2023