Sharon Stone Claims Hollywood Snubbed Her For 20 Years After Suffering A Stroke

In a candid conversation, renowned actress Sharon Stone opened up about her struggles in Hollywood after suffering a stroke.

The iconic star, known for playing femme fatales and women of mystery on the big screen, shared that she felt ignored and sidelined by the industry for over two decades following her health crisis.

Stone, now 65 years old, expressed her frustration and disappointment at the lack of opportunities she received during this period, despite her previous status as a prominent leading lady.

Keep on reading to learn more.

Speaking at the recently-held Hollywood Reporter's Raising Our Voices event, Stone discussed the impact of her stroke, which happened in 2001. At the height of her career, the actress experienced a severe brain hemorrhage that left her with significant physical and cognitive challenges.

Following her recovery two years later, the "Casino" star returned to the movie scene but found it difficult to regain her status as one of Hollywood's top stars.

"I recovered for seven years, and I haven't had jobs since," she lamented. "When it first happened, I didn't want to tell anybody because you know if something goes wrong with you, you're out. Something went wrong with me — I've been out for 20 years."

Stone added, "I haven't had jobs. I was a very big movie star at one point in my life."

She divulged that the roles she got after her stroke can't be compared to the ones she worked on before.

In the candid and heartfelt interview, Stone also opened up about the challenges she faced in the entertainment industry after she decided to stand up more for herself, noting that it may be why she didn't get jobs.

The "Basic Instinct" star emphasized that the consequences of her stroke exacerbated the existing gender disparities in Hollywood.

Stone expressed her frustration, stating, "I broke a lot of glass ceilings on the top of my head. I want to tell you that it hurt. It hurt to get paid. It hurt to fight the studio heads."

She continued, "It hurt to make boundaries, boundaries about who could come in my trailer and what they could ask for; boundaries about the fact that I didn't want to sign my contract in my makeup trailer on the day that I started a show." 

The movie star also stated that "It hurt to say that I had, like any corporation, the opportunity to have my lawyer read my contract and that I didn't have to start the show signing my unread contract in the makeup trailer."

Despite the difficulties she faced, Stone remains resilient and committed to advocating for equality and better representation in the entertainment industry.

The actress, who actively supports several charitable causes and organizations, went on to detail her advocacy work with the World Health Organization and the United Nations in a bid to help the underrepresented in the industry.

"It is important to me that your diversity does not get wiped out by this anti-woke bulls**t idea in our country," the actress shared. "This democratic experiment means a lot. It means a lot. The extreme pushing of a controlled government society — whatever you want to call it, whatever people want to label it — is also an experiment. It doesn't mean that it is happening. It means that it is an experiment to see if you will eat it. Will you eat a controlled government? Will you eat a controlled studio system? What will you eat or will you stand up and be counted?"

During her March appearance on "Table for Two with Bruce Bozzi" podcast, Stone revealed that her iconic role in the 1992 erotic film "Basic Instinct" profoundly impacted her personal life, leading to the loss of custody of her son, Roan.

According to Page Six, the actress, known for her captivating performance as Catherine Tramell in the 1992 thriller, recently opened up about the challenges she faced as a mother in the aftermath of the controversial film.

"I lost custody of my child," Stone stated. "When the judge asked my child – my tiny little boy, 'Do you know your mother makes sex movies?' This kind of abuse by the system, that it was considered what kind of parent I was because I made that movie."

She continued, "People are walking around with no clothes on at all on regular TV now, and you saw maybe like a sixteenth of a second of possible nudity of me – and I lost custody of my child."

She shares her adopted son, Roan, with her ex-husband Phil Bronstein. The former couple got hitched in 1998 and adopted the boy two years later, but got divorced in 2003.

Bronstein won primary custody of Roan after the judge argued that he could provide a more stable environment at his San Francisco residence.