Sharon Stone says she was sexually harassed by a former head of Sony Pictures, who allegedly aggressively propositioned her during an office meeting in the late 1980s, before the “Casino” star became a household name.
Stone remembered several specific details of the incident during a longform interview on the SiriusXM show “Let’s Talk Off Camera” with Kelly Ripa, but did not name her alleged abuser. It’s the first time Stone has expressed a specific #MeToo-type incident, though has hinted in previous interviews that she had experienced sexual harassment during her Hollywood ascent.
Sony, which was constituted in late 1987 with co-chairs Peter Guber and Jon Peters, did not immediately return a request for comment. Guber has never been publicly accused of sexual impropriety; Peters was ordered by a jury to pay $3.3 million in 2011 to a former assistant who accused him of sexual harassment and a hostile work environment.
Stone’s account comes from an audio clip provided to TheWrap:
Sharon Stone: “It was my Ralph Lauren jacket with the little ruffle on the shoulder, my denim skirt with a big ruffle at the bottom and my cowboy boots, and I was so excited to wear my special outfit and to meet the head of Sony and I went to his office and it was, you know, back in the ’80s, so the couch was basically on the floor, you know? It was those very low giant couches and my knees were around my neck and of course, I’m so tall anyway, so I look like all legs sitting there akimbo on the couch, and he is pacing around the office and he’s doing the exact same thing. ‘Oh, it’s true what they say about you and you’re the most gorgeous. We haven’t seen anyone like you in decades. Everybody’s talking about you and looking at you. You’re the most articulate. You’re so smart and beautiful and that hair.’ I mean, I had hair down, you know, to my waist and, ‘Oh, you’re just blah, blah, blah,’ and then he went, came walking right up in front of me and he said, ‘But first … ‘ and he took his penis right out in my face and of course I was very young and what I do when I’m nervous, because I’m basically a very bubbly person, I started laughing.”
Kelly Ripa: “Right.”
Sharon Stone: “I started laughing and crying at the same time and I couldn’t stop because I became hysterical. I couldn’t stop, so he didn’t know what to do. So, of course, he put it away and he went through this door behind his desk, which I thought was that he left, so I didn’t know what to do. So, I was just sitting there hysterical and eventually his secretary came and led me out, right? This was not the last of many weird experiences like this in my career, but when I heard this girl saying this, now you’ve gotta realize that this is like 1980 that this happened to me and now we’re in 2023, which is 43 years later.”
Stone was asked in January 2018 – with the #MeToo movement still in its early months – whether she had ever faced harassment or assault. At the time, she did not give any specifics, but was unequivocal in her answer, laughing knowingly at the question and saying: “I been in this business for 40 years … can you imagine the business I stepped into 40 years ago, looking like I look? … I’ve seen it all.”
During her “Off Camera” interview on Tuesday, she addressed her statements through the years, suggesting there were many more alleged abusers besides just the Sony executive:
Sharon Stone: “My statement during #MeToo was, ‘You know who you are.’ If you want to come to me and say sorry, I will accept you. I will say, ‘I will accept your apology and we can talk it through.’ If you don’t, don’t ever sit next to me again ever because if you sit next to me again, I’m gonna stand up in public and say, ‘I said, don’t sit next to me,’ so believe me. I’ve gone to screenings where the only seat left was an empty one next to me and I’ve had men sit on the stairs in the aisle because they know, don’t sit next to me if you’re a #MeToo that #MeToo’d me, don’t sit in that empty chair next to me unless you’re gonna say sorry.”
Kelly Ripa: “Has anybody apologized to you? Did anybody come forth and apologize?”
Sharon Stone: “One guy sat down next to me and said, ‘I don’t know what you think I’ve done, but if you want to tell me, I’m willing to hear it,’ and I said, ‘It’s time for you to get up.’”
