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Sharon Stone reveals she lost ‘half’ her money ‘to this banking thing’ during heartfelt speech at cancer research gala

March 18, 2023 | | Print Article

Actress Sharon Stone called on donors to the Women’s Cancer Research Fund to show “courage” in the face of uncertain times as she accepted the prestigious Courage Award at the organization’s gala on Thursday.

The star of “Casino” and “Basic Instinct” admitted that she was hit hard by the collapse of financial institutions that started last week with a run on Silicon Valley Bank, telling the audience, “I just lost half my money to this banking thing.”

Stone, whose charitable work has long inspired others, became emotional when she acknowledged the value of those battling cancer and the people who love them.

“The people that stood up tonight, right there, they’re worth more than you gave. And you know it,” she told the crowd as she fought back tears. “The ones that stood up, that lost people that they love, they’re worth more than you gave. And you know it.”

“And I am standing here because I expect you to show it,” she added. “And I mean it.”

“And I know that that thing that you have to get on and figure out and text the money is difficult,” she joked. “I’m a technical idiot, but I can write a f–king check.”

“And right now that’s courage too, because I know what’s happening,” Stone continued. “I just lost half my money to this banking thing. And that doesn’t mean that I’m not here. My brother just died. And that doesn’t mean that I’m not here.”

As BizPac Review reported, in the wake of the SVB closure, New York-based Signature Bank quickly followed suit, leading many to worry that more regional banks were doomed to fail.

It is unclear which bank closure impacted Stone.

“This is not an easy time for any of us,” Stone said. “This is a hard time in the world, but I’m telling you what, I’m not having some politician tell me what I can and cannot do and what the value of my life is and is not. So stand up. Stand up and say what you’re worth. I dare you. That’s what courage is.”

The actress recalled her own cancer scare.

Stone shared that she was “told that I had breast cancer, because I had a tumor that was larger than my breast, and they were sure that I couldn’t possibly have that tumor without it being cancer.”

“It wasn’t,” she assured the audience, who burst into applause. “But I went into the hospital saying, ‘If you open me up and it’s cancer, please take both my breasts’ because I am not a person defined by my breasts.”

“That might seem funny coming from me since you’ve all seen ‘em,” she said to a round of laughter. “But I want to tell you something else. You’ve seen them since the surgery and you don’t know it. So don’t ever feel compelled not to get a mammogram. Not to get a blood test. Not to get surgery. Because it doesn’t matter.”

“I’m standing here telling you, I had one-and-a-half and more tissue of my breasts removed, and none of you knew it.”

Melissa Fine
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