The earthquake that Stone so casually dismissed as karmic retribution claimed the lives of over 65,000 people on May 12. Obviously, the people of China are rather sensitive about this subject and the Chinese media did not appreciate a pampered movie star essentially telling them that they deserved the national tragedy. The remarks have particularly offended Ng See-Yuen (founder of the UME Cineplex chain and chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers), who said that actors should not bring personal politics into comments about a natural disaster that left 5 million homeless. In response, See-Yuen has decided to ban all future Sharon Stone films from his screens. UME owns branches in all the biggest urban movie markets in China and it is expected that other theater owners will follow in See-Yuen’s footsteps.

It should be noted that much of the Chinese media ignored Stone’s follow up statement in which she said that she cried upon getting a letter from the “Tebetan Foundation asking her to help the victims. "Sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service, even to people who aren't nice to you. That's a big lesson for me," Stone said. While that dulls the sting of her overall rant, it certainly doesn’t excuse what she said. The reaction of Chinese theater owners certainly seems reasonable until Stone issues a full apology to the country. And if it means that we’ll never have to sit through Basic Instinct 3, I think that it’s probably not a bad idea for North America to consider a ban as well.