Martha Stewart
AS SHE NEARS 80, THE DOMESTIC DIVA LOOKS AHEAD TO NEW ADVENTURES
The domestic goddess is approaching 80, but insists that she's just getting started!
Martha Stewart had never even heard the expression “thirst trap” when she decided to post a poolside selfie on Instagram last July. But like most things Martha takes on, she wound up bringing new meaning to the term, which the Urban Dictionary describes as “a sexy photograph…posted on social media for the intent of causing others to publicly profess their attraction.” Within minutes of Martha’s post, thousands of commenters did exactly that — and the alluring (but tasteful) snap became a viral phenomenon. “I got so many proposals and so many propositions,” Martha recalls with a laugh. “But I had to ignore all of them. I’m a very busy person.”
As she approaches her 80th birthday this August, the lifestyle guru has no intention of slowing down. With a thriving empire that includes everything from cookbooks to home goods to beauty products, Martha is happier and busier than she’s ever been and tackles each project with an energy that defies her years. “Age means nothing to me,” she insists.
Indeed, Martha’s arguably more in touch with the times than she was 20 years ago, whether that means exploring the benefits of cannabis-based products for her CBD line or lending her bawdy sense of humor to Comedy Central roasts. “What I care about, really, is keeping up with what’s out there,” she says. “I don’t like to get set in my ways.”
A NEW OUTLOOK
Interestingly enough, it was serving five months in prison that helped her to form that mindset. “Martha used to take herself very seriously — actually too seriously,” explains a friend of the multimillionaire, who was found guilty of a variety of charges stemming from an insider trading scandal back in 2004 and did time as a result. “[Being in prison] made her look at life very differently.” By the time Martha completed her sentence at the Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, W.Va., she had “learned to relax and let things go,” the friend relates. “She says her secret to looking and feeling great is laughter and acceptance.”
Since then, Martha has made a slew of younger friends, including rapper Snoop Dogg, with whom she co-hosted Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party on VH1. And she’s become a star on social media. “What I post is fun,” she smiles. The author of 98 books (number 100, she says, will be “my autobiography”), Martha is always coming up with new ideas, such has her skincare line, 86 Elm, which debuts this summer. And as much as she loves winding down with her daughter, Alexis, 55, and grandchildren Jude, 10, and Truman, 9, Martha plans to make her ninth decade her best yet. “She loves creating. And as long as she can come up with ideas, she’s going to keep on going,” says the pal. “She’ll never retire.”