R.J. Cutler rejects Martha Stewart’s criticisms of new Netflix doc

Last Updated on November 19, 2024

You come at the queen, you best not miss. After Martha Stewart spoke out against R.J. Cutler and his latest doc, Martha, the director was all but forced into defending himself. And in doing so, he also went to bat for the entire documentary filmmaking process. 

Speaking on The Town podcast (via EW), Cutler said he and Martha Stewart had a collaboration of sorts during the documentary but their discussions would only play so far into the finished product.  “Guess what? Martha saw the film and she told me what she thought about it. It wasn’t surprising to me that she would’ve made a different film that I made. She gave me her feedback, and she was upset that I didn’t make the changes she wanted to make. But this is the process.”

Some of Martha Stewart’s key criticisms over her namesake documentary were that Cutler focused too much on her 2004 trial as well as spinning it that the subject was in a frail state, using both as hooks to distract or mislead the viewer. On a less damning note, Stewart requested there be a hip hop-centric soundtrack.

Continuing to defend his film, Cutler added, “The subjectivity of being Martha Stewart in this situation, the vulnerability that you’re in, has to be responded to with empathy and support. That doesn’t mean it has to be responded to with changes to the film…It takes a tremendous amount of courage on her part to trust me, I respect that. In return, I share the film with her and have conversations with her about the film. If she has ideas that I think are good ideas and will help the film that I’m making, I’ll take a good idea from anybody.” In other words, it doesn’t seem that Cutler thought Martha Stewart had a whole lot of good ideas…Now come on, R.J., what’s wrong with an all-Snoop score?

Ultimately, it’s R.J. Cutler’s film; and while it would be unethical if he used certain tactics to purposely deceive the viewer – especially in what is ultimately yet another Netflix-backed celeb doc – he can approach the topic however he chooses, even with Stewart’s input. He, too, probably recognized that a lot of people will tune in not for Stewart’s entrepreneurialism but rather her trial and life that followed.

Have you seen Martha? Do you think Cutler did a good job with the subject?