Martha Stewart has said her time in federal prison was no cakewalk despite her facility being nicknamed Camp Cupcake.
The media mogul opens up about her life and career in Netflix‘s upcoming documentary Martha, which is set to land on the streamer on October 30. In the film, she talks about the five months she spent at Alderson Federal Prison Camp in West Virginia after being found guilty in 2004 of conspiracy to obstruct relating to the sale of a stock.
According to People, Stewart provided filmmaker R. J. Cutler with personal letters she’d written while locked up, some of which a voiceover reads aloud in the documentary.
“Physical exam, stripped of all clothes. Squat, arms out, cough — embarrassing,” the lifestyle guru wrote of her first 150 days in prison. The letters go on to describe an incident where she was put in solitary confinement for 24 hours for touching a guard.
“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,” Stewart wrote. “Later I was called in to be told never, ever touch a guard without expecting severe reprimand.”
Stewart went on to say that she apologized and then forgot about the moment because “the incident was so minor when it occurred.” However, she was later given her punishment when she “was dragged into solitary for touching an officer.”
“No food or water for a day,” Stewart says in the doc, per People. “This was Camp Cupcake, remember? That was the nickname. Camp Cupcake. It was not a cupcake.”
The letters also describe her jail cell, with Stewart writing, “My room contains an old double-decker bedstead metal spring and metal frame. 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.”
Her biggest concern, though, was the food situation. “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.”
Martha premiere, October 30, Netflix
