Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Sharon Stone Remark Causes Furor In China



We live in a brave new digital world. A remark uttered out of the side of one's mouth on the french Riviera can have reverberating effects on the other side of the world within a single news cycle. So when the outspoken Sharon Stone attacked China for it's policies in Tibet at Cannes, the largest film festival in the world, it was bound to cause some kind of a ruckus. Hulaballoo, even.

And Sharon Stone is no stranger to media ruckus. remember when she wore that Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres medal the French gave her everywhere -- as if it were the Nobel prize? We do. And what about the odd Komodo dragon incident? Or, Stone -- in vintage form -- years ago pestering the editors at Time magazine to give her a cover (she setlled for a small feature in the entertainment section)?

China, which is one of the largest film markets in the world (and growing), is reacting negatively to Stone's comments. Thus far the furor has been limited to individual vendors and internet chatter. But the anti-buzz is building. Massively. From TimesOnline:

"Film star Sharon Stone has set off a storm of fury across China after she suggested the deadly earthquake that killed as many as 80,000 people was bad karma for Beijing policy in Tibet.

"Several Chinese cinemas have pledged not to screen her movies and the Internet has exploded in a stream of angry comments.

"Ms Stone, speaking at the Cannes Film Festival last week, said: 'I’m not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else.'

"Answering questions on the red carpet, she revived memories of the international outrage that followed a Chinese decision to send in troops and the paramilitary to restore order to swathes of Tibetan China after Tibetans rampaged through Lhasa on March 14, killing at least 18 people."


No word yet on whether Stone's comments about P Diddy and "the crack" will cause similar turbulence (Exaggerated cough suggesting feigned detachment). But seriously: just how much this will affect Sharon Stone's film career overseas is probably dependent on whether or not: a) the mandarins of Beijing themselves weigh in on this (Possible, given enough popular uproar), and b) If Stone issues an apology (not likely; the gal is, if anything, quite ballsy). Something tells The Corsair that this story is not nearly over yet.

Stay tuned ...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sharon Stones comment to P Diddy was very offensive and prejudice. It is a known fact that crack is of no good and especially when associated to black people, because most believe that white people have no association to crack. They are the ones who brought it into the poor black neigborhoods. She needs to make a public apology to P Diddy, his family and friends and I am sure she needs to extend her apology to the black communities with emphasis to the hard working successful black people.