Inside the Making of Rachael Ray's $80 Million Empire

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Martha Stewart, whose brand is all about elevating one's table, home, hosting prowess and anything else that can be made more picturesque, observed to Nightline in 2009 that Ray's latest cookbook wasn't her cup of tea. "Rachael is different," she said. "She's more of an entertainer...with her bubbly personality than she is a teacher, like me. That's not what she's professing to be."

It actually sounded as if she was merely objecting to inevitably being compared to Ray in the first place, but once the comparison bureau handed the case over, the feud police were on high alert.

"Why would it make me mad?" Ray replied when ABC News asked about Stewart's take. "Her skill set is far beyond mine. That's simply the reality of it. That doesn't mean what I do isn't important, too...I don't consider it needling. I really just think she's being honest."

Moreover, "I'd rather eat Martha's [food] than mine, too."

Talking to guest Emeril Lagasse the following week on Martha, Stewart said about her and Ray, "[J]ust for the record, there are no bad feelings between us, nor have there ever been. 

"I truly believe that Rachael has done a terrific job bringing people, many people who would have never even stepped into the kitchen or made a dish to cook. I applaud Rachael for her enthusiastic approach to cooking...I really had a great time being a guest on her show, and it was a lot of fun to have her on this show making pie with me too. Come on back, Rachael, anytime you want, and I hope you have a yum-o Thanksgiving."

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