Martha Stewart Says Her Parole Officer Kept Her From Hosting Saturday Night Live

Martha Stewart revealed the reason why she never had the chance to host Saturday Night Live and the person in the criminal justice system responsible for it.

By Tionah Lee Jan 28, 2025 5:14 PM
| Updated Jan 28, 2025 5:15 PM
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Martha Stewart was ready for her big moment in studio 8H.

The 83-year-old shared that she was tapped to host Saturday Night Live, following her release from prison in 2005. But her dream was shut down by her parole officer.

“They asked me as I was coming out of Alderson,” the Martha & Snoop host said on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Jan. 27. “That camp that I was in for a while. And my parole officer wouldn’t give me the time to do it.”

The camp in question would be none other than Federal Prison Camp (FPC) Alderson in Alderson, West Virginia where Martha served five months after being convicted by a by a grand jury on nine charges, including conspiracy, obstruction of justice, and making false statements to federal investigators in connection to selling her ImClone stock.

“I was allowed to be out of my house for eight hours a day,” she continued about her stipulations. “That bastard. I still have his name and number. I’m so pissed.”

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Still, Martha hasn’t given up hope about hosting.

“Maybe someday,” she said about being asked in the future. “I would be amazing.”

Despite not making an appearance, Martha has been imitated on SNL a grand total of nine times by several of the show’s veterans including Amy Poehler, Rachel Dratch and Kristen Wiig.

Katie Jones/WWD via Getty Images

When it came to the best impersonation, Martha revealed it went to David Spade.

“He’s my favorite,” she said. “He was wearing my poncho. The real poncho.”

“I love it,” she continued about the different impersonations. “Imitation is the highest form of flattery, and you might as well be imitated.”

And while over two decades later she can joke about her time in prison, Martha recently shared that at the time, it was no laughing matter.

“It was so horrifying to me that I had to go through that—to be a trophy for these idiots in the U.S. attorney’s office,” she said about her time in her Netflix documentary Martha released in October. “Those prosecutors should have been put in a Cuisinart and turned on high.”

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

Keep reading for a closer look at Martha Stewart’s life…

 

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View More Photos From Martha Stewart Through the Years

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