Westport’s Martha Stewart is off the board of her Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia company.
Stewart, who was convicted March 5 of obstruction of justice and conspiracy, will assume the position of founding editorial director, the company said today.
“I am taking this action today because it is in the best interests of MSO and because I think it’s the right thing to do,” Stewart said in a statement.
“I am heartsick about my personal legal situation—and deeply sorry for the pain and difficulties it has caused our employees.”
“Everyone at MSO recognizes the seriousness of Martha’s situation and is deeply saddened,” Sharon Patrick, the company’s chief executive, said in the statement.
“However, all of us also believe that the company and our constituencies benefit most if we are able to continue to take advantage of Martha’s creative inspiration and capitalize on her prodigious skills and experience in the domestic arts—from cooking, to gardening, to crafts, to homekeeping.”
Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia said it created the new position of founding editorial director—“a role that reflects our desire for Martha to continue to make an important contribution to our business.”
The company’s board said “the benefit of Martha’s unique creative talents and contributions is in the very best interests of MSO and its shareholders.”
The company expects Stewart to continue to provide inspiration for product design and development, write two pending books and provide input on the MSO brand through her new post.
The board plans “to identify a qualified person” to replace Stewart as a director.
There is and will be only one Martha Stewart.What a sad day for all of us.I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart.America is a more beautiful place because of you..
I love you Martha Stewart and everything you stand for. I am praying that you are not continually unjustly treated and end up in a prison cell. I am as perplexed as you must be by the entire fiasco.
What a sad day for America when Martha Stewart was found guilty. I think they went after Martha just because of who she is, her visibility, and to make an example out of her. She has done so much GOOD for the way we live our lives, decorate our homes, and make our lives more pleasant. There are MUCH bigger fish to fry in corporate America. My husband and I have been fighting a MAJOR national bank for over two years to hold them accountable because at the completion of building our home, it was discovered that it was built on top of a pipeline. Go figure…