What happened between Bethenny Frankel and Martha Stewart on The Apprentice? Feud explained

Martha Stewart is an American businesswoman who hosted her version of The Apprentice, a reality TV show, from September to December 2005. Bethenny Frankel is best known for her role in the reality TV series The Real Housewives of New York. The two crossed paths when Bethenny appeared on Martha's Apprentice in 2005, where they formed negative impressions of each other.

Bethenny Frankel recounted her experience and the longstanding feud their encounter spawned on the February 14, 2023, episode of her podcast Just B. The episode, titled Just B Rant: Martha Stewart Hates Me, recounts her experience on the reality show, how she got on Martha Stewart's bad side, and the numerous barbs the two exchanged since then.

---

Martha Stewart fired Bethenny Frankel on live TV on The Apprentice

In her Just B podcast, Bethenny Frankel compared her and Martha Stewart's "feud" to those between actresses and media personalities like Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. However, despite the friction, Bethenny admitted to respecting Martha's work ethic and called her a "ball buster" who knows what she wants and takes it. She further speculated that Martha felt the same way about her.

Bethenny Frankel also recounted how she first met Martha Stewart as a contestant on the latter's version of The Apprentice. She was a promising contestant for most of the run but noticed a few ways she was making a negative impression on Martha. One moment was when Martha walked through the loft and saw Bethenny in a Louis Vuitton suit.

Bethenny claimed she really needed the job offer and only wore the suit because someone else had bought it for her. Nonetheless, it negatively colored Martha's impression of her. Bethenny was already concerned about this when she became one of the final two contestants chosen for that season's finale. Unlike the previous episodes, the finale would be a live broadcast, amplifying the stakes of the competition.

Bethenny recalled some further faux pas she committed on that day. Bill Clinton and his family were special guests during the episode, and she met with him and told him he had some spinach in his tooth. However, Bethenny felt her real blunder was letting Martha know about it afterward.

She also received a call from Paul Allen, who she knew, and this call ended up giving Martha Stewart the impression that Bethenny was more well-connected than she'd let on, reportedly making her less deserving of the job. Ultimately, Martha publicly fired Bethenny in the show's finale, saying:

"Bethenny, you're pushy, you're a show off, and you feel the need to make a physical impression, which is not entirely necessary."

After this, Bethenny would have several run-ins with Martha, and they would have underlying tension in their interactions. Bethenny recalled one incident in St. Barts, where she'd gone on a boat with Paul Allen's invitation. She recalled deliberately wearing what she called a "f**k you" dress to spite Martha. Martha, for her part, introduced her to Jon Bon Jovi and openly chastised her for being bitter about the way her time at The Apprentice ended.

Other barbs the two traded include Martha poking fun at Bethenny's "sleazy" film career and Bethenny mocking Martha's insider trading charges. However, the two eventually had a public reconciliation of sorts after Martha appeared on Bethenny's talk show, where they reminisced about their time on The Apprentice.

As far as Bethenny is concerned, the feud between her and Martha seems to be in the past. She also said she considers Martha a bit of a "frenemy" these days.

---

Bethenny's Just B podcast is available on iHeart Radio, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify.