Posted on 06/26/2002 2:55:12 AM PDT by kattracks
A knife-wielding Martha Stewart chopped away at a head of cabbage in a bizarre national television appearance yesterday while curtly refusing to answer questions about the ImClone insider-trading scandal."I want to focus on my salad, because that's why we're here," Stewart told "The Early Show" host Jane Clayson during a live cooking segment on the CBS program. It was Stewart's first TV appearance since the stock debacle erupted this month.
Writers for "Saturday Night Live" couldn't have done it better.
Here was the queen of American style and taste, wearing a pink button-down shirt as she stood behind a kitchen counter, containers of cooked chicken, herbs and vegetables at the ready.
Gesturing with a large kitchen knife, Stewart declared she would be cleared of any wrongdoing. "I think this will all be resolved in the very near future," she said. "And I will be exonerated from this ridiculousness."
Salad Days
Stewart clearly wanted to talk about peanut sauce and Fourth of July picnic food, not stop-loss orders or insider trading. "We're going to make salad," she said.
But before she could tell viewers how to make her delicious Japanese noodle salad, she had to fend off questions about the stock scandal that has tarnished her image and devastated her company's fortunes. As Clayson probed, Stewart mercilessly assaulted the cabbage.
Clayson: "What do you say about the allegations?"
Stewart: "As you understand [chop, chop], I'm involved in an investigation that has very serious implications. ... I'm just not at liberty at this time [chop, chop] to make any comments whatsoever [chop, chop]. And I certainly hope [chop] that the matter is resolved in the very near future [chop, chop]."
Clayson: "Are you worried that what [Stewart's stockbroker] did might further complicate matters for you?"
Stewart: "Well, again [chop, chop], I have nothing to say on the matter. I'm really [chop] not at liberty to say."
Betrayed by Gestures
Even before Stewart appeared on camera, she could be heard hacking away at the cabbage while Clayson summarized the controversy.
Body language expert Gerard Nierenberg said Stewart looked worried — and her gestures spoke clearly of her unease.
"She kept chopping and chopping and chopping," said Nierenberg, author of "How to Read a Person Like a Book" and president of the Negotiation Institute in Manhattan. "That's a very nervous thing."
He also observed that Stewart didn't make eye contact with Clayson and slid papers — possibly a prepared statement — from the counter after the questioning.
"When you look away, it shows that you're a little guilty," he said.
Yesterday's appearance was Stewart's first live segment on "The Early Show," which she visits each week, since Sam Waksal — her friend and former ImClone chief executive officer — was arrested on insider-trading charges.
Stewart has denied having insider information when she sold nearly 4,000 shares of ImClone stock Dec. 27, a day before the price plummeted on bad news about the biotech firm's experimental cancer drug.
She said she had a standing order with her broker, Merrill Lynch's Peter Bacanovic, to sell ImClone stock, but the broker's assistant has contradicted that account. Merrill Lynch has suspended Bacanovic and the assistant pending an investigation.
Questions on Menu
When Stewart decided to proceed with the live appearance, CBS News officials insisted that she be questioned about ImClone. "We're a news program, and we couldn't very well have her on without asking the questions," said CBS News spokeswoman Sandy Genelius. "She did her job. We did ours."
Genelius said Stewart knew that Clayson would ask about ImClone — but CBS didn't tell her what questions would be asked.
Although Stewart gave no new details about the ImClone sale, she did talk about how the scandal has affected her.
"When I was a model — and I was for all during high school and college — you always wanted to be on the cover of a magazine," she said. "That's how your success was judged. The more covers, the better. Well, I am the CEO of a New York Stock Exchange-listed company, and I don't want to be on any covers of any newspapers for a long, long time. That's the story."
She was a model? I never knew that.
She was a model for a few years while in college.
There's a not very complimentary biography that just came out. My wife gave it to me to read. The title, appropriately enough, is simply "Martha." Its an eye-opener. She's got sharp elbows and has climbed over a lot of bodies on her way up. Sorry I don't recall the author's name right now, but the title should be enough to enable you to find it.
I'll have to get my wife to read it... she just loves Martha.
CD
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