Martha Stewart: "Class Act" $1 Million Replacement for Liza Minnelli After Singer Turned Down Commercial

"A car was sent to pick Liza up from her home, but she wouldn’t come outside. They were literally negotiating for a couple hours over speakerphone," a source tells E! News

When it comes to getting the job done, Martha Stewart's your gal.

During the Golden Globes telecast on Sunday night, viewers witnessed a commercial starring the famous homemaker for Pine Brothers throat drops, but E! News has learned that the spot was actually supposed to star the iconic Liza Minnelli.  

The ad, which caught many off guard because of its simplicity and similarities to some Saturday Night Live skits, was done by former SNL director Fred Wolf (that explains it!), and a source reveals all the drama that led up to Stewart replacing Minnelli in the commercial to E! News.

"The commercial was ready to shoot, the they had two DPs [cinematographers] in place and had already rehearsed a day. But the following day, the drama started early. A car was sent to pick Liza up from her home, but she wouldn't come outside. They were literally negotiating for a couple hours over speakerphone," the insider tells us.

"The crew, around 15 people, wasn't sure if it was going to happen, so they left. The guys, Pine Brothers, started working the phones and they ended up with Martha Stewart. Stewart had grown up using the cough drops...Within 30 minutes, Stewart was heading to the set. She was a class act and was done in less than an hour."

Not only that, but E! News confirms that Stewart got a hefty $1 million for her 30 minutes of work. It definitely pays to be available and ready to work in such short notice!

Initial reports claimed that Minnelli had a long list of diva demands for her shoot, ranging from black Egyptian cotton towels to prohibiting the use of Styrofoam plates, and then couldn't come through on the morning of the shoot because it was "too much pressure."

However, a rep for Minnelli slams such claims and tells E! News, "While Liza had had some initial conversations with the Pine Bros folks to do a commercial they couldn't agree on a script. So it didn't get past that stage and all decided to part ways. Therefore the below is a bit harsh. And untrue. Especially if somebody is telling you it went so far as to get Liza a food scale. Or a body scale! Or any of the other items—my goodness. While she may be show-biz royalty she's surprisingly easy—the most we ever ask to have on-hand is a Coca-Cola. And if we're being especially demanding...then some red Gatorade too."
 
A rep for Pine Bros tells E! News, "We have no comment but we remain huge fans of Liza Minnelli and we hope she's doing OK."
 
E! News has reached out to Stewart's rep for comment.