Shyla Nelson Stewart — who is currently married to Martha Stewart’s ex-husband, Andrew Stewart — seemed eager to defend her husband during the lead-up to the recent release of the Netflix documentary “Martha.”
Ahead of the Oct. 30 debut of the film about the lifestyle mogul, Nelson Stewart published a statement on Facebook signed by her and Andrew regarding portions of the film’s trailer. In the teaser, Martha gives young women the advice: “If you’re married and your husband starts to cheat on you, he’s a piece of shit. Get out of that marriage.”
According to the couple’s Oct. 12 Facebook post, Andrew has evolved since his marriage with Martha ended in 1990. In the post, Nelson Stewart describes her husband as a “brilliant publisher, avocational naturalist and nature photographer, and one of the gentlest, most soft-spoken, kind-hearted men I’ve ever known.”
“Andy and I have built a life of beauty, meaning, productivity, and purpose, infused with true love,” Nelson Stewart writes in the joint statement.
But Nelson Stewart points out this wasn’t always the case for her husband.
“Prior to this happy chapter of his life, Andy had some dark ones, including a painful and abusive marriage to Martha (as in, Martha Stewart), which ended almost 40 years ago,” Nelson Stewart continued. “While Andy quietly moved on and forward with his life, it appears that Martha continues to publicly relitigate the marriage, including comments in a sensationalized trailer for an upcoming documentary on Netflix.”
Nelson Stewart, who married Andrew in 2016, added that the “juxtaposition” of her husband’s earlier life “with the joy-filled, purpose-led, loving marriage we live today is striking.”
“We both wish everyone, including Martha herself, the experience of loving and being loved deeply and fully, and the peace that comes from such a love,” Nelson Stewart concluded.
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Although Martha acts the part of a scorned wife in the trailer and the documentary, the film implies that Martha initiated the former couple’s pattern of habitual cheating.
Early in the documentary, Martha admits that she kissed a “very handsome guy” in the Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower in Florence, Italy, while the couple were on their honeymoon.
Martha explains in the film that she felt she “had” to attend church at the time because it was the day before Easter, and her Jewish husband “didn’t have any interest” in going to the famed cathedral, known as the Florence Duomo.
Martha described the cathedral as “a very romantic place.”
“An expansive dome so beautiful and paintings all around you,” Martha recalled of her surroundings. “It was like nothing I had ever done before. And, so, why not kiss a stranger?”
When the film’s director, R.J. Cutler, asked Martha how she’d describe that encounter, she responded, “Naughty?”
“Was it naughty, or was it infidelity?” Cutler asked.
“Neither,” Martha said. “It is neither naughty or in… in… unfaithful. It was just emotional, of the moment. That’s how I looked at it.”
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Later in the documentary, Martha speaks about how she was well aware that Andrew had “quite a few” girlfriends during their marriage, which spanned from 1961 to 1990, but she felt she “couldn’t walk away.”
When Cutler asks Martha if it was true that she had another “affair early on in the relationship,” Martha responded with: “Uh, yeah, but I don’t think Andy ever knew about that.”
“He did say he knew about that,” Cutler said.
“He did?” Martha asked, sounding surprised.
“He said he didn’t stray from the marriage until you told him you had already strayed,” Cutler said.
“Oh, that’s not true, I don’t think,” Martha said. “I had a very brief affair with a very attractive Irish man. And, um, it was just nothing. … I would never have broken up a marriage for it. … It was like the kiss in the cathedral.”