Martha Stewart blames TV host Craig Melvin for Halloween gaffe

Martha Stewart has thrown the blame on Today show host Craig Melvin for her homeless Halloween debacle.

The lifestyle guru addressed her controversial costume while on stage at an advertising event in Orlando, Florida.

Stewart told the crowd that Melvin had "spilled chocolate all over the sweater" she planned to wear when she appeared on the Today show's Halloween special on 30 October.

In footage obtained by TMZ, the entrepreneur said that due to the spill, the sweater was "too dirty" to wear to the Halloween party she was attending. She explained that she had only 10 minutes to get ready for the gathering, so she figured that the "easiest costume" was "a bum".

"I looked at myself. I said, 'You really look hungry and homeless. So I wrote a sign that said 'I'm hungry,'" she recalled. Stewart laughed as she added, "Boy, did that go off."

The culinary star revealed her annual costume via social media. In a since-deleted snapshot that has been widely screenshotted, Stewart wore tattered clothes with dirt smeared across her face. She held up a sign that read, "I am hungry. Help me."

"I am distressed that my Halloween costume yesterday, which was intended to bring more awareness to the very serious subject of homelessness, has offended people," Stewart told Page Six in a statement at the time. It was never my intention."