Sharon Stone says one painful medical decision told her everything she needed to know about her marriage.
The ‘Basic Instinct’ star, 68, opened up about a frightening health scare from the early 2000s during the June 1 episode of David Begnaud’s ‘The Person Who Believed in Me’ podcast. Stone said doctors found a serious breast tumor and urged her to consider a bilateral mastectomy, a procedure that removes both breasts.
The moment was scary enough on its own. Then came her husband’s reaction.
Sharon Stone Faced A Serious Cancer Scare
Stone said one tumor was larger than her entire left breast, which led doctors to treat the situation with urgency.
“One of the tumors was larger than my entire left breast,” Stone said.
She recalled her doctor coming to her house and telling her the situation looked serious.
“We believe you should have a bilateral mastectomy,” the doctor told her, according to Stone. “This is serious.”
Stone said she struggled with the possibility of cancer at first. She told the doctor, “I don’t have cancer.”
His reply landed hard.
“That’s not for you to decide,” he said.
Stone pushed back in her own way. She said she chose the surgery because she did not want to take any chances.
Her Husband’s Reaction Changed Everything
Stone said her then-husband was stunned by her decision and did not handle it well.
“My husband exclaimed, ‘This is absurd!'” Stone recalled. “Then he stormed out of the room.”
When Begnaud asked what her husband found absurd, Stone said it was the decision itself.
“The fact that I’d opt for a bilateral mastectomy,” Stone said. “He was livid.”
Begnaud then asked whether her husband was upset about the possible danger of cancer.
“No, not at all,” Stone said.
The host observed that her ex seemed more upset about the surgery than the risk to her life. Stone said her doctor then stepped in and defended her decision.
“If more of my patients were like her, we’d have more women alive today,” Stone recalled the doctor saying. “You need to sit down.”
Stone said she made it clear that the decision belonged to her.
“I’m the one making the decisions, not you,” she said.
Stone Says The Marriage Ended In That Room
Stone said that exchange marked a final break in the relationship.
“That moment marked the end of our marriage,” she said. “It was over right there in that room. The finality was palpable. There was no going back.”
She added that her husband believed she was overreacting and making too many decisions alone.
“He thought I was being irrational,” Stone said.
Thankfully, Stone later learned the tumors were benign. Still, the emotional damage had already been done.
Stone did not name her ex-husband during the interview. She was married to Phil Bronstein from 1998 to 2004. Before that, she was married to television producer Michael Greenburg from 1984 to 1990.
The ‘Casino’ actress later became a mother to three sons: Roan, 26, Laird, 21, and Quinn, 20.
