Sharon Stone says she “lost half” of her fortune to a bad “banking thing,” presumably referring to the fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank collapse.
That Primal instinct actress and activist 65, attended Thursday’s Women’s Cancer Research Fund’s An Unforgettable Evening in Beverly Hills, where she received the Courage Award and addressed the star-studded audience. She talked about the organization and its contributions to cancer research, adding personal comments in her remarks, including those about her finances.
As she encouraged attendees to donate more to the charity, she said at points in tears: “I know the thing you have to come up with and figure out how to write for the money is hard. I’m a tech nerd, but I can write a check. And right now it’s courage, too, because I know what’s going on. I just lost half my money to this bank thing, and that doesn’t mean I’m not here.”
She didn’t specify exactly what “banking” she meant, but less than a week ago, Silicon Valley Bank collapsed, marking the second largest bank failure in US history. This has resulted in volatility in the financial markets.
Stone began her comments at the event by saying she usually speaks “off the cuff because, as you know, I don’t give a ***,” but she had notes last night.
While acknowledging breast cancer survivors in the room and discussing mammograms, she revealed that she was once told she had breast cancer “because I had a tumor that was bigger than my breast.” While it ended up being misdiagnosed, “I went to the hospital and said, ‘If you open me up and it’s cancer, please take both of my breasts,’ because I’m not a person defined by my breasts. You know, that may seem funny coming from me since you’ve all seen them.
Stone, who wrote in her 2021 memoir about having surgery to remove tumors from her breasts in the 1990s, continued: “You’ve all seen them since the surgery and you don’t even know it. So don’t ever feel forced to to get a mammogram, not to get a blood test, not to have surgery because it doesn’t matter.I’m standing here telling you that I had a breast and a half and more tissue removed and none of you knew it. ”
Stone, who suffered a near-fatal stroke in 2001, also mentioned his late brother, Patrick Stone, who died in February at age 57 of heart disease.
“My brother just died and that doesn’t mean I’m not here,” she said of activism. “This is not an easy time for any of us. It’s a tough time in the world, but I tell you what, I don’t have a politician telling me what I can and can’t do. How I can and can’t can. live and what the value of my life is and isn’t. So stand up. Stand up and say what you’re worth. I dare you. That’s what courage is.”
The event, held at the Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire, drew celebrities including Rebel Wilson and fiancé Ramona Agruma, Lisa Rinna and Harry Hamlin, Julianne Hough, Lori Loughlin and daughter Olivia Jade Giannulli, Kathy and Rick Hilton, Nia Vardalos, Paul Wesley and more. Maroon 5 performed with Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo and also hit the red carpet.
Stone has long been known for her candor – and recently revealed that when she lost custody of her son in the 1990s, it was as a result of her 1992 film Primal instinct. On iHeartRadio’s Table for two podcast this month, she said she lost custody of Roan Bronstein, now 22, because of her nude scene in the film. She recalled the judge then asking the boy if he knew his mother “makes sex films”. After losing custody, she experienced heart problems and experienced “extra heartbeats in my upper and lower chambers.” Stone is also mother to Laird Stone, 17, and Quinn Stone, 16.