Sharon Stone once snapped at TV host for 'setting' her up with awkward MeToo question: "I'm not..."
'Basic Instinct' actress Sharon Stone's interview with Good Morning Britain's host Ed Balls turned very awkward at one point! In May 2024, Stone made a virtual appearance on an episode of the ITV daytime show, joining Balls for an interview via video link from her Los Angeles house. During the episode, Balls and Stone discussed numerous topics, including Stone's new career path as an artist and her terrifying experience of suffering a brain bleed. However, things took a turn for worse when Balls brought up one touchy subject: the #MeToo movement.
Balls kicked off the topic by saying, "There's been a huge change because of the #MeToo movement, the conviction of Harvey Weinstein. I mean at a different place, hopefully, the film industry in Los Angeles compared to when you were there. When you look back on those early points in your career, the fact that the Hollywood producer Robert Evans advised you to have sex with your fellow lead William Baldwin in the 1993 movie Sliver to improve on his performance, when you look at those times how do you feel today about what producers said to you...," according to The US Sun.
However, the legendary movie star interrupted mid-sentence and quipped, "You're setting me up with the 'did you beat your wife yet' comment. So, first of all, I am not going to validate the statement that you first made as if it is true. We are not going to do that to start with. So I would like to re-start with a new question somewhere else." A brief silence followed as Balls' co-host, Kate Garraway, lowered her gaze to the desk.
Subsequently, Balls tried to get the interview back on track and questioned Stone, "When you look back, then, on the way in which you were treated in Hollywood 20, 25, 30 years ago. How does it make you feel now?" Stone bluntly said, "Well, I have been treated many different ways in Hollywood and all kinds of cities all over the place. You're not just treated a certain way, and Hollywood isn't really a place. Here's a Hollywood sign, but it isn't really where we do business. Hollywood is an idea, and you can't get treated badly by an idea. There are structural rules for society that are difficult for everyone, and they have been difficult for women in every category, whether you are the superstar or the girl I was when I was the waitress at McDonald's. I had the same problems at McDonald's as I did when I was on set."
The same year, Stone also made an appearance on Louis Theroux's podcast, where she claimed that producer Evans allegedly asked her to sleep with Baldwin to improve his performance. "He called me to his office. He had these very low seventies, eighties couches, so I'm essentially sitting on the floor when I should have been on set. And he's running around his office in sunglasses explaining to me that he slept with Ava Gardner and I should sleep with Billy Baldwin, because if I slept with Billy Baldwin, Billy Baldwin's performance would get better and we needed Billy to get better in the movie because that was the problem," Stone said, as per Daily Mail.
After reportedly hearing Evans' demand, Stone allegedly realized that he hadn’t listened to her when she suggested other A-listers, like Michael Douglas, for Baldwin’s role as Zeke Hawkins in the 1992 erotic thriller. Additionally, she was reportedly frustrated that the filmmakers expected her to go from starring alongside Douglas to Baldwin. Stone explained, "I didn't have to f**k Michael Douglas. Michael could come to work and know how to hit those marks, and do that line, and rehearse and show up. Now all of a sudden I'm in the 'I have to f**k people' business."