Ina Garten refutes Martha Stewart’s claims on their falling out

The foodie feud between Ina Garten and Martha Stewart continues on, with the former refuting Stewart’s story about their falling out.
The “Barefoot Contessa” star opened up about her former friendship with the diva of domesticity, who has repeatedly claimed Garten stopped communicating with her after Stewart went to prison for insider trading in 2004.
“Well, let’s just say her story isn’t exactly accurate,” Garten told People in an interview published Friday. “And, you know, that was 25 years ago. I think it’s time to let it go.”
Garten’s comments come less than two months after Stewart made an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” where she told the host Garten stopped speaking to her after she “went to jail.”
Stewart made similar claims in September in a profile for The New Yorker: “When I was sent off to Alderson Prison, she stopped talking to me. I found that extremely distressing and extremely unfriendly.”
Garten firmly denied Stewart’s side of the story, telling the outlet they drifted apart when they both relocated from the Hamptons.
Despite Stewart’s publicist trying to simmer the beef, saying her client is “not bitter at all” and that “there’s no feud,” Stewart herself recently said a reconciliation for the former friends was unlikely.
“No, she’s into her own thing. That’s OK,” the 83-year-old told People in October at the New York premiere of her Netflix documentary “Martha.”
The former Food Network stars have history dating back to the 1990s in the Hamptons, where Garten’s specialty store, The Barefoot Contessa, was located. As their friendship blossomed, she was featured in and wrote for Stewart’s lifestyle magazine, Martha Stewart Living, which led to Garten’s first book deal.