Martha Stewart Calls Out Director RJ Cutler For Not Using Rap Music In Netflix Doc & Refusing To Cut Scenes She Hated: “I Told Him To Get Rid Of Those”
Martha Stewart opened up about her life with director R.J. Cutler for her Netflix documentary Martha.
However, the media mogul is not entirely happy with the final cut of her documentary and called out the director for not editing out some scenes she disliked.
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“Those last scenes with me looking like a lonely old lady walking hunched over in the garden? Boy, I told him to get rid of those,” Stewart told the New York Times. “And he refused. I hate those last scenes. Hate them.”
Although Stewart was not pleased with the last scenes, she did admit that she loved “the first half of the documentary.”
Stewart also criticized the documentary’s second half, which focuses on the insider trading allegations and the obstruction of justice trial that landed her in federal prison.
“It was not that important,” Stewart said. “The trial and the actual incarceration was less than two years out of an 83-year life. I considered it a vacation, to tell you the truth… the trial itself was extremely boring. Even the judge fell asleep. R.J. didn’t even put that in. The judge was asleep at the bench. I wrote it in my diary every day.”
Stewart’s other gripe that she found “shocking” was that the director “used very little” material from her personal archive. The celebrity chef also called out that her grandchildren were omitted saying, “there’s not even a mention.”
Stewart also mentioned that she requested that rap music be used in the documentary, but the director didn’t follow through.
“I said to R.J., ‘An essential part of the film is that you play rap music.’ Dr. Dre will probably score it, or [Snoop Dogg] or Fredwreck. I said, ‘I want that music.’ And then he gets some lousy classical score in there, which has nothing to do with me,” she said in the interview.
Despite Stewart’s criticism, she hopes that the documentary inspires women, which is something she is already experiencing.
“So many girls have already told me — young women — that watching it gave them a strength that they didn’t know they had,” she said. “And that’s the thing I like most about the documentary. It really shows a strong woman standing up for herself and living through horror as well as some huge success.”
Cutler has directed other docs featuring personalities like Billie Eilish, Dick Cheney, and Elton John, with the latter work set to premiere in December on Disney+.
Although the director didn’t comment on Stewart’s particular gripes, he said, “I am really proud of this film, and I admire Martha’s courage in entrusting me to make it. I’m not surprised that it’s hard for her to see aspects of it.”
Cutler noted that Martha is “a movie, not a Wikipedia page,” adding, “It’s the story of an incredibly interesting human being who is complicated and visionary and brilliant.”
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