American media personality, businesswoman, television host, and founder of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. Stewart built a multibillion-dollar lifestyle empire encompassing television, magazines, books, and merchandise before her 2004 federal conviction on charges of obstruction of justice and securities fraud related to ImClone stock trading. Stewart's connections to the Epstein case files are documented through several channels.
DOJ-released EFTA emails show that Epstein's assistant Lesley Groff exchanged cell phone numbers with Stewart's assistant in 2013. Groff subsequently invited Stewart to a dinner gathering that would include Epstein, Woody Allen, and Soon-Yi Previn; the same social circle that appears throughout Epstein's post-conviction correspondence. A calendar entry in the EFTA documents, labeled "martha stewart st. croix," blocks off time on December 26, 2013, corresponding to the period when Epstein maintained a primary residence on Little St.
James in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Stewart also appears on a 2010 publicist email listing 43 people invited to a Christmas gathering at which Epstein was present.
An Epstein-linked Bear Stearns account, titled "International Charitable Interests," held a short position of 2,000 shares in Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia stock valued at approximately $32,900 as of December 2001; during the period when Stewart's own insider trading troubles were beginning to emerge, raising questions about whether Epstein had advance knowledge of her legal problems. Additionally, attorney Gerald Lefcourt represented both Stewart during her ImClone-related proceedings and served as part of Epstein's defense team during the Palm Beach investigation. Stewart appears in 379 documents and 13 email records.
No direct email correspondence between Stewart and Epstein has been identified. No allegations of wrongdoing have been made against Stewart in connection with Epstein's criminal conduct.