I like Martha Stewart, but I wouldn't want to be her friend...whereas, I LOVE Ina Garten and I wish we could be besties......

Wolf Blitzer would talk to you as if he were announcing breaking news and I would be forced to slap him...

You have nothing in common with Ina G ar ten OP, but you do have lots in common with Martha.

That's simply not true. I'm a warm funny kind person and I feel drawn to Ina, whereas, Martha is brilliant at what she does, but she seems cold to me, and even a bit selfish. Ina seems generous.

I"m sure Martha believes she is a warm funny person too.

Ina has so much privilege in her life she would call the police on you thinking an animal escaped from the zoo.

[quote] I LOVE Ina Garten and I wish we could be besties

Well you can't, try Paula Deen

Wolf Blitzer?

Have you ever seen his risible performance on celebrity Jeopardy?

Celebrities with whom I'd like to be friends:

James Marsden, Octavia Spencer, Kathy Bates, Judith Light, Gary Gulman, Sarah Cooper ...

The best thing about celebrities is that I don’t have to worry about fucking up a friendship. They perform a function, make money, and choose their own friends.

This is especially true because I am an accidental blabbermouth.

I still daydream that I'm best friends with Madge Blake.

Ina has crafted a very interesting image but it seems very much removed from her reality. She seems to have great trouble keeping friends and admits that she has Jeffrey and that's enough. No kids, no pets, and essentially no friends. She's also admitted that her mother was essentially Beth Jarrett.

As for Martha, could you imagine Ina ever being friends with Snoop Dogg?

Ina isn't all that.

I worked for/with Martha a few times at the magazine. We were friendly, I knew my place & she was certainly guarded at first.... She'd take my call, or would certainly call me back. We were good & worked well together. She did tell me she liked me & my ideas :)

I'd like to be friends with Willie Nelson.

Martha only loves you as much as she needs you. I heard some DLers have experience with this.

I think Snoop is just a fanboy of Martha, partly bc she served time.

I would rather eat at Ina’s house vs Martha’s, probably.

Ina comes across as a bit of a snob.

All of you don't know what these people are like. They could be considerably different when they're not in the camera.

Martha is nearly always on camera.

Ina does come off a bit arrogant and snooty at times. I just laugh at her.

Ina treats her gay friends as mascots to be paraded as proof of how open and liberal she is. The worst kind of fag hag.

[quote]Ina has crafted a very interesting image but it seems very much removed from her reality. She seems to have great trouble keeping friends and admits that she has Jeffrey and that's enough.

I wonder about that; I kind of think that Jeffery is already in on the act she doesn't mind talking about him, but she doesn't seem comfortable talking about herself. As far as friends go, she seems to have a couple of old friend gay couples that she dotes on & appear to love her. Maybe it's all for the cameras, but I doubt any of them are good enough actors to fake that kind of warmth & comfort. As far as being friends go, she seems like a bit of an old yenta at this point that probably wouldn't bother with you if she didn't think you were on in tax bracket or provided some kind of service essential to her business. As far as Martha goes, I admire her work & her crafted image, but your screen practically frosts over every time she shows up

Too bad that Chris Farley is dead; I bet he would have been a superb Ina Garten.

I think Anderson would be a good friend to have. But I suppose he is guarded because of so many crazies out here. But for American Royalty he seems quite down to earth.

Now, Paula Deen, would drive me nuts. She seems like she'd call you constantly drafting you into running errands for her. She's one that you cannot do enough for her. It's always something. Now her son is another story. He's someone I 'd love to get to know better.

Seth Meyers seems likeable, but kind of boring. I don't much care for Fallon. He's probably fun at parties, but not someone I'd care to know.Stephen Colbert is definitely someone I'd want for a friend. He is good people. Kimmel is edgy. We'd be friendly, but not close.

Martha at this point in her life and career is long past the unfortunate ambition and cutthroat tendencies she applied when building her empire. She's thoughtful, generous, open and engaged.

Garten is a lush with a sloppy life. She's also a phony.

R25, one of the things I find off utting is Martha's need to look glamorous at her aging. She still wants to look like a young, middle-aged woman and she is ancient. I can identify with Ina, because she works hard, at least on TV. Now why do you claim she has "a sloppy life?"

She’s not a real Contessa, you know.

Ina is 100% frau. Barefoot Contessa is the frau-iest delusion. It goes along with those Karens who keep referring to British Afternoon Tea as High Tea.

It’s the middle aged version of young women wanting a Sex & the City lifestyle.

^Ina's non-apologetic love for booze is one of my favorite things about her. That - and she knows what's bad for her, but what the hell, she's going to eat that brownie anyway. She seems like she'd be your favorite crazy aunt.

I've posted this before, but Paula behaved awfully toward her family at some Food Expo show. If she wasn't the cash cow of the family, she'd have mysteriously fallen down the stairs years ago.

I picture all of these people as "not our kind" types that would own socialize or befriend someone if it benefitted them in some way.

I could definitely be friends with Craig Ferguson. He conducted some serious and thoughtful interviews during the run of his show while also being funny.

I also think I could be friends with King Charles' equerry Lt. Colonel Johnny Thompson. I actually have nothing to base this on as we know nothing of his personality just photos and video of him performing but not speaking. But based solely on his photos, I believe I could make it work....I would try really hard to make it work.

I would enjoy both their accents immensely.

Ina has few if any female friends, at least publicly. In the early days of Barefoot contessa, she'd often talk about them, having lunch, meeting for cocktails, etc. That stopped and then she began talking about her best friend Barbara Liberman. That went on for several seasons and then nothing. They're neighbors and apparently had a huge falling out. On BC (which I always loved), her interactions with women and especially children were always stilted and artificial.

People keep pointing out that Ina doesn't seem to have friends, but who exactly are Martha's good friends? Snoop? Don't make me laugh; that's a transactional relationship that brings both of them a new audience.

I don't think either Martha or Ina is particularly focused on personal relationships. Both have built empires, and you really can't have and do everything. Something's gotta give.

I think Martha's next boyfriend will be Pete Davidson.

WEHT to her gay friend TR?

R32 that's kinda the point. Could you imagine Ina even considering hanging with Snoop, even for a transactional relationship. And it kind of goes with the image. You'll seldom saw blacks or Asians on Barefoot Contessa, very similar to Paula Deen. Once a black chef said she made something with Kim Chee and Ina said she'd never heard of it and then did her famous nervous laugh. Martha said that when she returned from Seoul, she ate Kim Chee there every day.

R34, they had a big fight too.

R36 details please. I can totally see her being a control freak.

Ina gives off more of a caterer vibe. And excellent caterer but a caterer all the same. She's invited to A list parties when she is cooking. Martha is always invited to any A list party or event. She's just higher up the food chain.

I wouldn’t want to be one of her pets.

What was the name of that queen who betrayed Martha? Peter something?

Peter Baconovic, and the assistant Douglas Faneuil flipped. He got a lot of attention from DL back on the day.

R37, it was discussed extensively on DL but I only sort of remember it. It seems that TR wanted his own show on FN and Ina resented the idea that he was using her name in order to do so. All of which is ridiculous since TR was on her show all the time and certainly had the looks and personality to host something but Ina didn't want him to. It's said that she split with Barbara because she started using a lot of Barbara's recipes and she wanted a cut of the book sales. I do remember the grilled cheese episode where she said Barbara came over and developed the butter/cheese recipe. She gave her credit on the show but Barbara wanted to be paid.

Well when you become very famous and very successful some friends can't handle that. And if you do have good friends who stick by you, you very often have to keep your personal life private because the tabloids will definitely call your friends up and try to dig up or make up shit about you. So I'm not going to assume Martha and Ina have no close girl friends. Maybe they do and we just don't know about them.

OBVIOUSLY COUNTRY QUEEN REBA!!!

R6- No one wants to be besties with that

CONFEDERATE CLOWN 🤡

I once bought an Ina Garten cookbook at Costco about 12 years ago. I made a couple of the recipes and did not care for them. I've made several of Martha Stewart's recipes including a vegetarian chili that I've made many times and is very tasty plus I ate a pecan pie that was from a Martha Stewart cookbook that was fabulous. I prefer Martha Stewart's recipes over Ina Garten's recipes but I do enjoy watching the Chubby Contessa and her bitchy gay male Hamptons queens who'd appear on her show.

Martha is a brand. She has all kinds of Martha Stewart shit for you to buy. Bed sheets and other stuff.

R41- He looked like a typical NASTY effeminate gay Hamptons queen- I wouldn't be surprised if he made some nasty remark one day to Ina like-

Ina you and Jeffrey need to get on a treadmill pronto!

and after that she cut him off

Anthony Bourdain, who bitched about people, said (IIRC) that he liked Martha's cooking technique.

If I'm going to pretend to be friends with a celebrity it's going to be someone like Sigourney Weaver or Chris Evans or whatever.

TV cooks are not very interesting.

R48, remember he started with Ina as a teenager when he worked at Barefoot Contessa, so they had a history. There were some episodes where he was essentially the star, like the time where she was instructing him to cook a steak dinner and he had to go out and buy everything including the cast iron skillet.

Ina is smart and pragmatic. In some season of her programs, she tried to stage meals and segments with friends, but it seemed pretty forced, and her “Nyeh-heh” fake laugh was irritating. I think the food was cold and yucky before they were able to actually eat it because of the technical details of filming.

I think TR is a busy model for Brooks Brothers. I remember he drove a vintage Jeep Grand Wagoneer that was pretty cool (very preppy).

Ina is probably really, really loaded and can set her own agenda. She is like the Larry David of food media.

Bitch Ina throwing the child with cancer under the bus wheels TWICE no less, I liked her then I didn't, let her fat uterus get cancer, she deserves it.

i would like to meet the Puppy Bowl athletes.

Martha

Martha

Martha

Ina's laugh is horrible.

I think Ina has a complex relationship with fame and the outward promotion of her content and product. I can’t blame her for that. People, specifically rabid fans, don’t always observe boundaries around celebrities, and she might have an even harder time because she’s in some ways an atypical superstar. She’s stout and pleasant-looking, and might seem more “accessible” to the type of fan who rushes at celebrities and blurts “Oh my GOD it’s YOU!”. There is a creepy sense of over-familiarity with some celebrities. Once during an interview with Ina, an audience member asked her why she didn’t have children, and she simply said that she didn’t want discuss that idea. I think she might be really, really smart and successful, but not always happy being “known” by strangers. I can never stand that. Her home is extremely valuable and her lifestyle is probably one to envy, but she probably needs precise control over her personal environment, and I can respect that.

R57 ITA.

Someone on DL said they met Martha in person and she was the coldest most unfeminine woman they’d ever met and couldn’t see how any man would be attracted to her. It’s funny because Martha tries so hard to be desirable despite being single since the early 90s

Ina did speak about her decision to be childless and although it was buried in the conversation, she noted her mother's coldness and her lack of affection. She was close to her dad but her mom was demanding and distant.

Inquiring gay minds want to know the scoop on Ina's Jeffrey-

Is he a connoisseur of COCK 🍆?

What about Nigella Lawson??

R26, Martha is her own brand and at this point the dolling-up is as much drag as when she'd dress for Halloween on the magazine cover. She knows her age and that she's more like her mother's Polish heritage than her married-into WASP "Stewart" pretenses.

I understand what you're saying, but if I get down to cook and cuisine people I'd actually like or would have liked to be around, I wouldn't care about personality so much as brilliance and honesty: Marcella Hazan, Jim Beard, Edna Lewis, Simone Beck, Leah Chase, Lafcadio Hearn, and Cecilia Chiang,

Martha doesn't get dolled-up for her cooking show. She wears an Oxford shirt (like a men's dress shirt), untucked. Her hair is always impeccably (IMO) colored / highlighted. Hair a little too long in the front, IMO, but I think she likes that look.

R64 You can tell by her hands that she (Martha) does actual “work” with them, and she is probably a hearty, pragmatic person in her own personal kitchen. But much of the preparation in food media is done by production assistants in advance.

I read somewhere that America’s Test Kitchen is really like a factory operation, with nearly a hundred chickens or turkeys being used in the process of testing recipes that can be reliably presented as “the best way to…”

Food media seems past its prime, with more content being produced for third screen media like YouTube. We see fewer high cost productions with elaborate studio kitchens and production elements like these. Sara Moulton releases her content on Instagram (it’s still very good). Outside of Guy Fieri and Bobby Flay, I don’t see many “stars”. Ina’s series and seasons have adapted through different phases, in these most recent years are staged in that barn studio behind her home, and the audio, lighting and video production elements are really high quality but simple and not distracting. I really like the orange sofas in her cookbook library.

Martha’s Cooking School series is also straight forward and “instructional”, but with decent lighting. It looks like a studio kitchen but not a fancy or highly technical one.

R65- You are definitely TEAM Martha

as am I

Imagine you were snowed in for 24-hours waiting for flights to resume from some godforsaken regional airport, very far from anything and all the hotels booked. I imagine Martha Stewart would be an ideal drinking companion to wait out the storm.

Gwyneth Paltrow is runner up in this contest.

After that, of course, the 24 hours will never be mentioned again not acknowledged.

R67 I always thought Marianne Faithful would be a good choice to get stranded with in the Sky Lounge.

Gwyneth Paltrow?

Thank you, R69. Gwyneth as an impromptu drinking buddy?

Funny how Anthony Bourdain ragged on all of the television cooking shows and their hosts and now he’s gone and they are still here. He had more demons than they do I guess…

Martha Stewart is 82 years old and looks damn good- even if she has had work done on her face. She also doesn't act or move around like an old person.

I hope I can have her energy etc when I'm her age.

TEAM MARTHA!

Martha looks good, but her open-mouthed "sexy" insta thirst traps are unsettling. It's weird because thirty years ago she didn't try to look sexy, but now in her eighties she decides to be a bombshell??

Yeah, her thirst traps give me the creeps.

Gurl. You think that blonde hair of Martha's is real? She's wearing a wig! And she probably has six pounds of spackling quality make up on her face for those photo shoots. Look at her eyes. They're dull. Almost as if she isn't always sure what's going on. I would love to know what goes on behind the scenes to get her "ready for her close up. Now if she ain't Gloria Swanson lookin for William Holden I don't know who is.

Martha doesn’t wear a wig, how absurd. She’s of Polish heritage and as such has naturally blonde hair and it’s incredibly thick. She’s always had amazing hair and great skin (though she’s never been a beauty imo).

Everyone with crappy hair accuses those with great hair of wigs or extensions. Get over your bald ass, natural beauty exists.

Oh, God. She probably has clip-ons with her natural hair.

We saw her mother on her show all the damned time. There definitely some trickery going on.

I had an elderly mother. She is dead, as are her 4 sisters. All elderly aunties. They all had t hick beautiful hair. Until they hit their 70's. Elderly people lose hair. It's a fact of nature. And if you're a public person who has to get her hair dyed and groomed to be on TV or what ever your hair...and your skin take a beating. Martha has lost some hair. She has at least experienced some thinning.

There's no way she has this glossy blonde mane at 82. That's the point. She looks creepy, because she is trying way to hard to not look her age. I look at Jane Fonda who has let her hair go grey and wears a rinse now, and it longer and I know Jane is wearing a wig because she went through chemo. But she looks really good. Martha should let it go. She's starting to look ridiculous and pathetic.

Not too interested in any of those the OP named except for Anderson Cooper. I met his mom back when I was a child. She was so nice and not at all affected. I can't imagine she could anything but a good egg. I think Anderson seems like he would be fun to have as my friend.

Wendy Williams, she would make you feel so good about yourself.

Anderson Cooper seems like a prisspot, IMO.

R82 I saw him at LaGuardia and he’s tiny but fit, and had a strangely removed expression on his face, staring straight ahead almost defying anyone from making eye contact. A really strange energy, even for a celebrity in a public setting.

Martha’s hair IS thinning. It’s not as thick as it once was. And yes it is possible to have hair like hers at this age IF you’re a healthy 80 year old, which she is. I would know, I’ve seen it in my own family. I’ll also most likely have the same shine and thickness as my relatives if I make it to that age.

R82- He seems ALBINO to me

Martha Stewart ca. 1975.

It barely looks like her.

Both Ina and Martha will be nice to you if you have something to offer. I have a friend who is a private chef and encounters them often. Not a lot of dish or dirt, but they treat all people like the Help. Just Desserts is a fantastic bio of Martha before jail. It’s required reading. She was hugely driven and curated herself from the beginning. Her father was quite the whip driver and demanded a lot of her growing up. She learned how to do everything. Literally everything. An interesting note from the book, in her first TV shows they used hand doubles because her hands were horrible looking to the TV execs and it was difficult to shoot around them when she was kneading dough or something.

Martha's daughter is one of the most repellent personalities I've ever seen. She even had her own show for a while. Rumor had it that Martha got her the show to get her off her back.

What would happen if I started calling Martha by the nickname Marty?

Yeah, ‘make a wish’ for Ina, OP. Let’s see where it gets ya.

[quote] [R82] I saw him at LaGuardia and he’s tiny but fit, and had a strangely removed expression on his face, staring straight ahead almost defying anyone from making eye contact. A really strange energy, even for a celebrity in a public setting.

R83, he's an asshole. His mother may have been a lovely woman, but he seems like an asshole.

Tim Gunn had the opportunity to observe Martha Stewart together with daughter Alexis. Tim described it as "Grey Gardens." Apparently, the two had a dysfunctional relationship. Sounded like Alexis was rude and unpleasant to Martha and Martha pretended everything was fine. That doesn't sound like Grey Gardens, but that's how Tim described it.

Here's an article about Tim Gunn and Martha & Alexis Stewart.

But I wouldn’t burden you with friendship — of course, I’d hire you as one of my fans so that you could weed out my compost piles and gain real status!

[quote]Martha's daughter is one of the most repellent personalities I've ever seen. She even had her own show for a while. Rumor had it that Martha got her the show to get her off her back.

She was a sour thing. In the extreme. Alexis Stewart's project for a long time was some dumpy retro motel in Bridgehampton, NY. She appeared to have no skills other than the ability sour milk from a great distance. Her twisted gash of a mouth made Sandra Bernhard's sneer look utterly alluring.

I'm so stealing that 'sour milk from a great distance' line!

I remember that Alexis had a show called WHATEVER MARTHA where she and her friend would critique each episode of Martha’s show. It was strange to say the least. She must have a lot of anger and resentment towards her mother. Those family counseling sessions have to be dramatic, if they have any at all…

Can you picture Martha in family counseling? No way. She just pretends not to notice that her daughter hates her. Much easier!

Now, Tim Gunn is definitely someone I'd love to be friends with!

How enjoyable spending time w/ Martha especially dog food day, killing pet-friends and convincing companies to put her name on everything FROM dogfood to cannabis gummies clawing to get back to billionaire status before bucket day.- best of luck.

I want to be friends with Ina Claire.

Martha is one of those people who grew up relatively poor and now that she's got loads of money she wants people to think she grew up that way. Ina did not grow up poor, held an important job in the government and now has loads of money herself. Ina's never tried to make anyone think she was anything but what she is. Martha is rude, hateful, and dishonest. Ina is lovely, friendly, and honest.

"Ina is lovely, friendly, and honest."

Okay, that made even me laugh.

"Ina is lovely, friendly, and honest."

And stinky! Don't forget stinky.

Ina is a flatulent elitist snob.

Martha’s daughter sells cookies?-cookies she makes herself?, I love making cookies,,,

And don’t forget about Jeffrey. She’s got Jeffrey to cook for and take care of.

Isn’t Martha’s daughter a lesbian?

Ina is the snob to end all snobs. She was practically begging Park Avenue co-ops to buy into their building. I think when she finally got one to agree to her tenancy, the unit she was buying was smaller than the one she lived in that wasn’t on Park Avenue.

So what if Ina is a snob! She comes by it honestly and I think she is very pleasant.

People like Ina Garten have to be VERY careful how friendly they get with strangers. They never know what people are out for. A cursory smile is as much as they should ever need to give anyone unless they're having personal dealings with the person. Some people take that as snobbish. It's not. It's just being careful.

In Ina’s defense re: the dying kid. I thought it was his parents who made the request to Ina, or put him up to it. Ina can be insufferable but this was manipulation on their behalf.

I think Ina is by nature a friendly person, even if she is socially awkward. But I think she has learned the hard way to be more guarded and distant. Plus if she had a store and was doing catering in the Hamptons can you even imagine her clientele and how she had to be a diplomat to deal with them and their neuroses and complaints?

Paula Deen would have visited that sick kid. Even if the parents or kid didn’t want her there.

Hey, y’all, I just wanted to drop by and deliver some of my Granny Paul’s Ooey Gooey Bars made with four sticks of butter and a gallon of sweet tea, 1 tea bag to four cups of sugar. These will put you right in no time. Best dishes, y’all.

Ina's pussy smells like old Chinese sourced tilapia.

Ina always wanted you to buy the $50 bottle of vanilla. But for those who couldn’t afford it, she always acted like you could substitute lesser quality but the recipe wouldn’t work.

Paula Deen had two gorgeous sons on her show.

Ina had gay Jeffrey, who was always a bit creepy.

Martha had her mother.

From the Food Network, what about Kardea Brown? I'd love to be friends with her : )

[quote] Paula Deen would have visited that sick kid.

Yeah she would, but only if some TV show was filming the whole thing so she could get a paycheck out of it.

R114, and Paula would than insist on being paid. She seems like she'd be over the top generous and thenassume she was going to be compensated.

I loved the time Paula got hit in the face by that ham. Anyone remember that?

Paula's ham can't compare to Ina's sausage toes.

You people have some serious issues --mommy and otherwise!

R121 Wait, what? Is that a deep fake? I can’t picture that actually included in an episode of her show.

R123 it's real but Ina had it removed after she saw it. It was the third episode in the first season.

R124 I think the food critic Mimi Sheraton wrote about taking a bath by candlelight while savoring toast smeared with 40 cloves of roasted garlic.

Never did the candlelight bath or the garlic, but toast is my comfort food.

PAULA DEEN=TRAINWRECK, her sons WERE cute but no more,the gay one married a woman?

Bobby Deen? Bobby Deen married a woman?????? Noooo!.