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The Great Hate Debate: Martha vs. Rachael … but Wait! Martha Apologizes!

  • Susan
  • November 25, 2009
Rachel Ray loves Martha Stewart
Rachel Ray loves Martha Stewart

Thank goodness for Sarah Palin, Levi Johnston and Jon Gosselin.  If these so-called celebrity “newsmakers”had not been hogging the front pages and headlines of the entertainment press, then perhaps more people would have heard about the latest perceived cat fight between two of the industry’s most successful businesswomen and domestic divas ” Martha Stewart and Rachael Ray.

Stewart, the happy homemaker that everyone loves to hate and whose Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia empire was heavily tarnished by her five-month stint in the slammer, revealed her true feelings about Ray during an interview with Cynthia McFadden of ABC News.  The feature, which appeared on the November 18 edition of Nightline, was one of the few times that Stewart let the media have access to her personal life on her Bedford, New York farm and behind the scenes at her Omnimedia business empire.

Stewart is a self-described teacher and perfectionist

The 68-year old Stewart, who fancies herself a teacher and a perfectionist, does not understand why it drives people crazy when she wipes crumbs from the table or cracks her eggs “just so.”  This led McFadden to compare Stewart to fellow competitor and domestic diva Ray, who is 41.  Even though she had just recently been a guest on Ray’s own homespun show, Stewart took aim at the wildly popular Ray, chastising her lack of baking skills and criticizing her newly-released cookbooks, saying they were a “re-edit of a lot of her old recipes, and that’s not good enough for me”

Stewart went on to admit that Ray possessed different qualities than she had.  “She’s more of an entertainer with a bubbly personality than a teacher like me,”she told McFadden.

So what does Rachael Ray think of Martha Stewart’s impression of her?

Ray isn’t at all upset about Stewart’s remarks.  “Why would it make me mad?”she told McFadden.  “Her skill set is far beyond mine. That’s simply the reality of it. That doesn’t mean what I do isn’t important, too … I don’t consider it needling. I really just think she’s being honest.”

Ray takes the high road in the war of the words

And Ray had a big admission when it came down to the food that each of them prepares.  “I’d rather eat hers than mine, too,”she quipped, as she graciously acknowledged Stewart’s assessment of her skills.

So is this the beginning of a new cat fight between two kitchen queens?  It’s highly unlikely, especially when there are so many more juicy stories that the media can grab onto to get good ratings.  Besides, there are enough fans to go around for both women to share.  Let’s face it ” they are very different personality types, each with their own unique following.  Probably as many viewers dislike Ray for her cutesy and folksy style as those that dislike Stewart for her haughty and highbrow delivery.  Much can be learned from both these women; they should be respected for their ability to build and maintain successful and ongoing business empires.  I think there is plenty of room for them to coexist peacefully for many years to come.

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Update


After Martha Stewart’s unkind words about Rachael Ray went viral on the Internet, Stewart took a step back and decided to do some damage control.

On a cooking segment on her own syndicated show and with guest Emeril Lagasse present, Stewart took the opportunity to “apologize” to Rachael Ray, saying, “Just for the record, there are no bad feelings between us nor have there ever been. I truly believe that Rachael has done a terrific job bringing people, many people who would never have even stepped into the kitchen or made a dish – to cook.” Stewart also issued an invitation to Ray to make another appearance on her show, and wished her a “yumm-o” Thanksgiving.

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