Martha Stewart is “very sorry” for dressing up as a homeless person for Halloween.
The lifestyle guru, 85, apologized Sunday, stating that the shocking getup was “insensitive.”
“it’s hard to admit when you’ve really screwed up. My earlier statement didn’t go far enough,” she wrote on Instagram.
“I know many people are suffering economically,” she continued. “Wearing a costume like I did was insensitive and not funny.”
She concluded, “I am very sorry. Martha.”
Reactions to the apology written on the Notes app on her phone were mixed.
One critic commented, “Your choice reflects an utter disconnect from the desperation and suffering of so many people, especially those who are unhoused and hungry.”
But one fan defended her, noting, “We always dressed as ‘Hobo’s’ for Halloween in the 1970’s. It was no big deal. Get over it people.”
Stewart faced intense backlash after she shared — and quickly deleted — a photo of herself wearing a beanie and tattered clothing while holding a sign begging for food. She also smeared dirt across her face,
“I AM HUNGRY HELP ME!” the sign, scrawled on a brown clipboard, read in her Instagram pic.
The multimillionaire businesswoman captioned the post, “My QVC candles are perfect for Halloween!!!”
Stewart told Page Six in a statement that her costume was intended to bring “awareness” to the issue of homelessness.
“I am distressed that my Halloween costume yesterday, which was intended to bring more awareness to the very serious subject of homelessness, has offended people, which was never my intention,” she shared.
“Homelessness continues to remain one of America’s greatest challenges and ongoing crises, something that I care deeply about and I have spent a significant amount of time and effort supporting charities that combat this ongoing social epidemic,” she continued.
Stewart has not been shy about talking about her money.
Last month, she shockingly shared that she once raked in $65 million a year from Kmart royalties alone during her appearance on the “Other People’s Business” podcast.
“We were selling close to $2 billion worth of merchandise,” she recalled to MasterClass CEO David Rogier. “That’s a lot of money. That was funding the whole development of my magazine, the whole business. That was an amazing thing.”
But she doesn’t live lavishly as she admitted she also “lost about a billion dollars” navigating her legal problems in the early 2000s.
Stewart was famously convicted in an insider trading scandal and served five months in prison, five more in home confinement and two years of supervised probation.
“The lawyers took me to the cleaners,” Stewart explained, but noted, “I’m back. I’m pretty good.”
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