Martha Stewart did five months in federal prison in 2004 after she was convicted of lying to the FBI during an insider trading investigation.  You might assume that her experience was FAR CUSHIER than what most inmates go through, and it probably was.  But she wouldn’t put it that way.

In an interview on Katie Couric’s podcast, Martha called prison a “horrifying” experience.  She said, “No one, NO ONE, should have to go through that kind of indignity really except for murderers, it’s a very, very awful thing.  There are lots of disturbing things that go on in an incarceration like that.  In minimum security, there’s still guards and it’s still nasty.”

But could she turn the experience into something GOOD?  Well, no.  She said, “[Did I feel] that ‘You can make lemons out of lemonade,’ and ‘What hurts you makes you stronger’?  No.  None of those adages fit at all.  It’s a horrible experience, nothing is good about it, nothing.”