Martha Stewart’s stay in federal prison was no cupcake.
The lifestyle mogul spent five months at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia (nicknamed Camp Cupcake) after she was found guilty on charges including conspiracy and obstruction of justice related to the sale of a stock. The new Netflix documentary Martha (out Oct. 30) looks at her “terrible” time there.
Stewart, 83, provided filmmaker R. J. Cutler with personal letters she had written throughout her life, some from behind bars. A voiceover reads the letters in Martha.
On the first of 150 days in prison, Stewart writes: “Physical exam, stripped of all clothes. Squat, arms out, cough — embarrassing.”
Stewart is also interviewed in the documentary. “I had to do all that crap that you see in the movies. You can’t even believe that that’s what you’re going through,” she said.
The letters reveal a run-in with two prison guards that got Stewart in trouble.
“Today I saw two very well-dressed ladies walking and I breezed by them, remarking on the beautiful warm morning and how nice they looked. When I realized from the big silver key chain that they were guards, I lightly brushed the chain,” she wrote. “Later I was called in to be told never, ever touch a guard without expecting severe reprimand.”
Stewart recalls apologizing, but because “the incident was so minor when it occurred” she put it out of her mind — until her punishment came.
“I was dragged into solitary for touching an officer,” Stewart said on camera. “No food or water for a day. This was Camp Cupcake, remember? That was the nickname. Camp Cupcake. It was not a cupcake.”
A representative for the Federal Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on allegations from 2004 but said the bureau “confines offenders in facilities that are safe and humane.”
“Every individual is provided with the basic necessities of life including regular meals three times a day and access to potable water regardless of where they are housed,” they added in a statement.
In Martha, Stewart describes her cell at the jail. “My room contains an old double-decker bedstead metal spring and metal frame,” she wrote. “The springs are very saggy and thus an unhealthy bed set. I would actually prefer the top but over 62-years-old and you automatically are given a lower bunk.”
The first U.S. female billionaire recalls waking up at 4:00 a.m. to start her daily routine there.
“What worries me is the very poor quality of the food and the unavailablility off fresh anything as there are many starches and many carbs, many fat foods. No pure anything,” she wrote.
“Everything was terrible,” Stewart adds.
Martha follows her release from jail (in her famous handmade poncho) and her ultimate comeback.
“I just hope that everyone gets a few life lessons from the film tonight and understands what’s been going on,” she told PEOPLE at the premiere on Oct. 21.
Martha streams on Netflix on Oct. 30.
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