Sharon Stone is covering the November issue of Allure. The last time we talked about her she was comparing her career slump after she had a stroke to Princess Diana’s death. It was bizarre and Sharon has quite a high opinion of herself, as I said in that story. I also said that it’s possible that Sharon’s stroke has made her that much more blunt than she used to be, which she’s said is the case. In Allure Sharon really opens up to the interviewer about her life and how she struggled after her stroke. She sounds lonely, frankly, and like she’s looking for a partner. She says she would really like to get laid (my words), but only by someone she’s in a committed relationship with. Here’s more of what Sharon said. She got the most headlines for saying that Basic Instinct couldn’t be made today, which is true, you can read that at the source. I’m not quoting it because she said so many other interesting things. She was only on the phone with the interviewer and it’s like she was treating her like a therapist.
This was printed at the beginning without context
People are incredibly unkind. They think if you’re beautiful, you must be stupid, you must be shallow. If you’re beautiful, we should make you feel small or less. Every person has gifts. And if beauty is one of them, we should accept it and enjoy it as a gift from nature… If someone’s beautiful, for God’s sake, let them be beautiful.Allure: Have you had a favorite age?
SS: My 40s were so beautiful. I couldn’t work because women, once they got to be 40, were not given jobs in Hollywood. I was a mom with three beautiful little boys. I was recovering from a massive brain injury, and I was in custody court constantly over my oldest child. But there was something wonderful in that period of all those challenges. And even though no one wanted to date me — no one would want a woman that had little children — it was a period of reconciliation and change, and understanding myself. It was my period of the biggest change, but the period where I thought I was the most beautiful.Allure: Is there anything that you wish you had or hadn’t done in your 40s?
SS: I wish that someone had fallen in love with me, I guess. I think life would have been less harsh with a partner.SS: I would say — this is speculative at this moment, that should I have a lover — I would think that sex would be better, because it would come from love. Sex for the sake of sex at this point in my life is not interesting.
ALLURE: You don’t seem to get lonely.
SS: I absolutely get lonely. It would be false to say that the happiness of my solitude doesn’t come sometimes with the melancholy of aloneness. But no one is going to find the beauty of genuine love through flagrant promiscuity.ALLURE: I hope this isn’t too personal. When was the last time you cried?
SS: I’m crying a little bit now. It’s not really a sad thing. It’s more — life is so beautiful. When we’re young and we’re so driven by the follies of our youth, sometimes we can miss some of the great beauty and wonder of the simplicity of every day.
That stuff about Sharon wanting a man kind of made me sad for her. She’s Sharon freaking Stone, that’s surprising to hear. I think it’s different for these famous single women as they must be intimidating in a way. As for feeling her most beautiful in her 40s, I can sort of relate and I hope this lasts for me. I think it’s because I’m comfortable with who I am and also because my son is a teenager and I finally have more time and freedom. I doubt that would be the case if I was raising little kids like she was. As for the quote in the title, I think she must have opened with that and it’s myopic and self absorbed, but that’s Sharon. She did open up after that, and I found myself feeling for her.
I remember her in Casino. She should have had many more awards for that electric performance.
YES! I love her in that film, she was brilliant.
Dynamite. I love that film and she is just incredible.
She speaks like someone who is trying to convince people that they are so smart.
She actually is smart but she’s not particularly humble about it.
Didn’t she lie about being part of MENSA at some point? That’s really her issue: it’s not her beauty, it’s not her brains, she just happens to be insufferable.
Good for her for not being humble about it. Smart women are expected to hide their intelligence to make men feel better about themselves.
@jamie, this!! Absolutely agree! I see that almost every day at my workplace. Women who are smart and have ideas are not taken serious as men. Even though i work at a huge company who claims to be so modern and live the gender equality. It’s not. It’s still a long way for us.
I always liked her; I will probably buy this issue.
Separately, Allure is a shadow of its former self. I know magazines are losing subscribers, but it’s basically a pamphlet at this point.
You are spot on about Allure! It indeed barely resembles its former self. This issue does look intriguing, though.
Thank you both! I thought I was the only one who thought that about Allure. It’s now unreadable IMO
I used to love Allure, It was my favorite monthly. After Linda Wells was pushed out it turned into total garbage.
She sounds like Jessica Biel. “Poor me, I’m too pretty to get what I want blah blah blah beautiful people have it rough”. Pffft
Except Sharon Stone can act and Biel wishes she had the career Sharon has had. Remember Sharon is from a place decades before Jessica and prob dealt with a lot more open scrutiny and blatant sexism when she was coming up in Hollywood. Jessica tried to justify her horrible roles and non offers to her being too sexy/beautiful for serious roles whereas Sharon is describing how she was treated for being thought of as a sexy actress(bimbo) not that it was detrimental to her career but how ppl assumed she must be not Smart as well. Sorry but I don’t like comparing a talented actress to anti vaxxing moron Biel
Nah, we just know you don’t *have* to be smart for the world to treat you better. Beauty is a privilege not a detriment, no matter how much attractive people want to pretend otherwise.
Well,. unfortunately brain injuries have happened in my family. My father and my aunt both. You are never the same. I don’t judge anything she says because she is missing the filters the rest of us have. So what?
I like her unfiltered. I mean, I like her in general, and I love that she shares her true post-BI self.
She was always unfiltered! I don’t know why people seem to think she is opening up now. I remember she was very opinionated during the height of her career. She doesn’t give a f**k and tells it like it is.
Is this a cultural thing? Because where I grew up, being attractive was a sign of “good genes” and “ugly” people were assumed to be idiots…
I’ve never heard of unattractiveness being associated with intelligence here in the U.S. but the “dumb blonde” trope has been around forever.
The stereotypical stupid American is always either a big fat boor or a crooked-toothed hillbilly. Very much associating ugly with stupid.
Sarah, Yes, that’s what I was saying but clearly not clearly enough, lol — that I hadn’t heard of ugly being associated with smart.
I think the confusion may have been my fault. What I meant was that unattractive people are usually seen as “inferior” in some way. It’s in all the fairytales: handsome prince rescues beautiful princess from ugly witch/troll/monster. In South Africa during apartheid (when I grew up) attractive white people were seen as the “best and brightest” while unattractive white people were “one step above” …you get the idea.
I think it goes both ways. If you’re unattractive, you may be considered an inferior idiot. If you’re beautiful, it can be assumed that you’ve coasted on your looks and been catered to and are therefore not required to do a lot of thinking on your own.
I thought the header pic was Miley Cyrus at first glance.
Yes… is that Sharon Stone? Did her appearance change because of her stroke? Is it a makeup thing? It’s confusing because the IG post below looks like her. The third photo sort of looks like her.
I thought at first glance the pic was Madonna, with upgraded plastic surgery.
Sharon is very articulate, and i always have admired her.
When i first saw her in Basic Instinct i was in awe of her incredibly beautiful face, and her acting was excellent. Sharon was brilliant in Casino as well.
I think her face was shopped. The other photos she looks like herself.
I have that magazine and thought it was odd that they had a Sharon Stone quote on the cover but not a picture of her…. it’s so weird that they photoshop someone to be unrecognizable! She is a beautiful woman and they should just go with her actual face.
@Janet, she was on the cover but in the issue itself she only appeared on the very last page, in a Q and A feature (which is where the above quotes are from)… along with a single black and white photo of her.
I assume that attractive people who call themselves beautiful are probably astoundingly vain.
I think vanity is fine. If we’re going to exploit and objectify female beauty, the women should be allowed to own their own attractiveness. What’s obnoxious about it is the implication that it’s somehow a hindrance. It’s not. Beauty has always been a privilege. Her beauty helped get her a massively successful career, not blocked her entrance to Harvard.
Nothing more unattractive that someone saying they are beautiful. I mean that literally; it totally changed how I looked at her picture when I read that headline, and all I thought is, “um nope!”
It’s one thing to acknowledge symmetry, or adherence to a tradition standard (e.g. thin, fair), but “beautiful” is a label best left to be given, not taken.
Thank goodness someone is finally sticking up for all the poor beleaguered beautiful people.
Lol…right? Beautiful peeps got it rough out there!
I actually do feel sorry for famous people when it comes to love. It must suck to never know if you are being used for your wealth and connections. It would be hard to trust people.
I think there’s a lot of meat on this bone.
Damn the bitterness in some of these comments, yikes
Right? You just can’t acknowledge you’re beautiful, it’s like they want you to hate yourself like they do. I’m beautiful so what? People say it all the time but if I say it, I’m vain and a monster, apparently.
I think people are annoyed that she is claiming that her beauty has been a hindrance in her life and that people assume beautiful people are dumb. Studies have shown, and I agree, that attractive people are considered MORE intelligent and are more likely to be chosen for jobs than “unattractive” people. Basically, life is easier for pretty people.
I am not bitter than Sharon is pretty. I am also pretty and have been told so my entire life. And I also acknowledge that it has made my life easier in many ways. For Sharon to act liked being pretty is a burden is ridiculous.
Seriously. It’s not the least bit unreasonable for Sharon Freaking Stone to point out that people have always assumed her to be a beautiful bimbo. Fine, maybe one personally doesn’t think she’s beautiful, but she’s topped about 100 beauty lists for 25+ years, and people most certainly never credit her for being as smart as she is.
I always had a bit of a girl crush on her. She’s beautiful, fearless, smart, calls it likes she sees it, and takes no crap. You can take her or leave her…she doesn’t care. She still does her. She’s probably a pain in the ass to live with, but hey 🤷♀️….I don’t want to live with her.
I’d consider it. We’d have to have wine and cheese first, of course… TBH I do think she’d be fun to hang out with.
I don’t remember Sharon being known as a kind person. It’s a bit different when you are on the receiving end of things, eh?
I don’t think she is saying anything deep or particularly sad here. She is just being honest. The 40’s are a great age for a woman. She spent them in a bitter divorce and raising small children. She, like a lot of women, picked the wrong guy. I’m sure she could still bag a young guy if she wanted to. Priorities change with age. Nothing wrong with that.
I didn’t like her bc she was MEAN. She would slam her exes in the news (every time) and it seemed unnecessary and self aggrandizing. It was a pattern and at a certain point, honey it’s you.
I do have to say she was very nice to kids. I remember she used to hang around SF a lot because her hubby was the editor of the SF Chron. I have heard one time they were in a Rite Aid pharmacy and some kids didn’t have enough money to buy ice cream. She paid for it.
On the other hand, she was a presence at Glide Memorial Church. One of my co-workers used to work there. He said she was a handful. Most likely difficult to please.
So you agree? You think you’re really pretty?
Lol! Good one Bananie!
Well, she had some VERY good work done. She looks good.
No not all beautiful people but Brad Pitt 100% is shallow and dumb
Hmmm okaaay!
She’s right, though. Comments online prove it. I have seen the most venomous stuff written about conventionally attractive people for absolutely no other discernible reason. Mostly women, too. Find two similar stories about two celebrities – one female, and one male. The younger female will be subject to horrible public abuse(especially if she’s young), while the male will get off lighter.
She is right. People have stereotypes in their heads. Dumb blondes. Women with large breasts being airheaded bimbos. And while being a physically attractive woman can open doors, the motives for the opening of those doors are very often not because they admire your brain.
That said… if you can put your ego and a certain need for validation aside, allowing people to underestimate you because of those stereotypes, right up until the moment they will NEVER underestimate you again is not a bad strategy.
I rather suspect that Reese Witherspoon has pulled this off. Little Miss Perky Blonde who is likely in reality, a pro negotiator who goes for the jugular.
About 22 years ago, I was in a restaurant in NYC called Jezebel at the bar waiting for a table. In comes Sharon Stone. She was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen up close in my entire life.
Tbh, most of the comments up there make some of y’all sound a little insecure, not Sharon. So beautiful people are not supposed to ever self-affirm their beauty?? When did that start? Or is it only applicable to famous people. At a certain point, it rings a little false when someone who is OBVIOUSLY attractive constantly tries to downplay their attractiveness. And why do people always come out to downplay the experience of women who make the same observation that Sharon makes? You’re not her. You don’t know what she has been told all her life, in her professional career etc. Sheesh
Tbh, most of the comments up there make some of y’all sound a little insecure, not Sharon. So beautiful people are not supposed to ever self-affirm their beauty?? When did that start? Or is it only applicable to famous people. At a certain point, it rings a little false when someone who is OBVIOUSLY attractive constantly tries to downplay their attractiveness. And why do people always come out to downplay the experience of women who make the same observation that Sharon makes? You’re not her. You don’t know what she has been told all her life, in her professional career etc. Wowza
I completely understand this point of view.
I have been so marginalized and underestimated as a 61 inch blonde woman with big rack…I even got a breast reduction as soon as I got health insurance, went to law school at night while working full-time, took entry-level jobs after passing the Bar and have now, finally, reached a C-suite level job…and am still talked over by men in meetings. About a decade ago came to terms with the fact that my best strategy is to stop fighting it and attack people one by one. I called out an older male co-worker for calling me and other women in the office “kiddo.” Even my boyfriend was like “way harsh” and I pointed out that this VP is not only my subordinate, but doesn’t call any of the MEN “kiddo”…they are allowed to have names like “Tom” and “Dan”? Ugh. At any rate, I read him the riot act (in a chilly and mean way) and he ultimately apologized and acknowledged that he was mad initially and then recognized that I was 1000% right. If someone talks over me now, I quitely wait for them to finish, don’t acknowledge ANYTHING that they said, and I say (icily) “as I was saying…..”
Its exhausting. Still.
Sharon Stone is many things, but beautiful is not one of them.
She’s attractive, but beautiful no.
That’s your opinion.
I met her at the JFK airport almost 4 months ago, she was gorgeous.
I don’t know how beautiful she must have been 40 years ago.
I always thought she was very beautiful, and I like that she hasn’t gone crazy and gotten the LA face.
But I’ve also always heard she was not the nicest and very difficult to work with, and that can kill a career much faster than reaching 40 can.
@Lucy2: But doesn’t that seem to be the reputation that many women in Hollywood get when they don’t let men walk all over them?
I don’t see beauty as a hindrance at all. She was born with good genes. She was likely offered opportunities that no person who was not beautiful would ever have. I have heard stories about her personality though. I suppose you could chalk that up to misogyny. I have heard a a few stories about her being extremely difficult and they mostly come from people who have worked for her. I was sitting next to the ex wife of her then husband (Phil whatever his name is) and trying to get her to dish but she was too kind to comment. Maybe the behavior was brought on by the brain injury. I have heard stories of her being lovely and kind to children as well.