But Dior has pulled promotional material featuring Sharon Stone in China after controversial comments form the actress Sharon Stone has been dropped from Christian Dior’s Chinese advertisements after the actress claimed the country’s devastating earthquake may have been the result of bad karma over its treatment of Tibet.
The French fashion house acted even though Stone issued a grovelling apology for the comments.
Cancelled: Sharon Stone as she appears in one of the Dior adverts
The 50-year-old actress said she was "deeply sorry" for causing anguish and anger among Chinese people with her remarks in an interview last week.
Stone models for Christian Dior SA, and the company's Shanghai office issued the statement.
The public relations manager for Dior in Shanghai, said Basic Instinct star would no longer appear in the company's advertisements in China.
"Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people," Stone said in the statement.
"I am willing to take part in the relief work of China's earthquake, and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people."
Stone said she had worked in international charities for the past 20 years and wants to help Chinese people.
During her visit to China last year for the Shanghai Movie Festival she said she felt "deeply the Chinese people's wisdom and hospitality”.
Stone's comments caused considerable anger in the Chinese media. The official Xinhua News Agency said she was the "public enemy of all mankind”.
Chinese media have erupted in indignation over foreign criticism of the country ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August.
Controversial: Sharon Stone on the night she made the comment in Cannes
During the international leg of the Olympic torch relay many Chinese reacted strongly to protests over Beijing's rule of Tibet.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang today said he had taken note of Stone's apology, and he hoped China's relief efforts could be fully understood and supported by the international community.
"We hope that as an actress she should contribute to our two peoples' mutual trust, understanding and friendship," he said.
Stone's original comments were made last week during a Cannes Film Festival red-carpet interview.
"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," Stone said.
"And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
During the brief interview, Stone also said she cried when she received a letter from the Tibetan Foundation asking her to help the quake victims.
"They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry. It was a big lesson to me that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who aren't nice to you," she said.
Sharon Stone's "karma" comment is having an instant effect on her movie-star status in China.
The 50-year-old actress suggested last week that the devastating May 12 earthquake in China could have been the result of bad karma over the government's treatment of Tibet.
That prompted the founder of one of China's biggest cinema chains to say his company would not show her films in his theaters, according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter.
"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," Stone told a reporter from Hong Kong's Cable Entertainment News.
"And then this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"
Ng See-Yuen, founder of the UME Cineplex chain and the chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, called Stone's comments "inappropriate".
UME has branches in Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Hangzhou and Guangzhou, China's biggest urban movie markets.
During the brief interview, which has also surfaced on YouTube, Stone also said she cried when she received a letter from the Tibetan Foundation asking her to help quake victims.
"They wanted to go and be helpful, and that made me cry," she said. "It was a big lesson to me that sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who aren't nice to you."
Stone's words created a swell of anger on the Internet, including at least one Chinese Web site devoted solely to disparaging her comments.
"To Sharon Stone's comment, it's unlikely that we will respond," said a woman who answered the phone at the Foreign Ministry in Beijing. She refused to give her name or position.
After-hours phone calls and email to a representative for Stone were not immediately returned Tuesday night.
According to the Web-based database imdb.com, Stone has at least four movies coming up between now and 2010, including "Streets of Blood," "Five Dollars a Day" and "The Year of Getting to Know Us."
Pop star Madonna and Sharon Stone pusses greet each other on the stage at the start the annual amfAR party in Cannes
Madonna and Sharon Stone prove again that when it comes to red carpet glitz and glamour, older really is wiser.
The dynamic duo pulled out all the stops last night at the annual amfAR party in Cannes - with very different looks.
And with a combined age of 99 between them, the leading ladies showed the younger stars at Cannes they still have what it takes when it comes to setting the red carpet alight.
Video: Cannes spotlight - Madonna, Sharon Stone, etc.
Hollywood's leading ladies Madonna and Sharon Stone stole the Cannes limelight for a second night running
Sharon, 50 wore a sexy leopard print Cavalli gown and draped herself over a red Porsche for the assembled photographers. Swedish model Victoria Silvstedt dazzles in a revealing apricot dress while Eva Herzigova shows that simple is sexy in a strapless black gown
Meanwhile Madonna - who is one year younger - opted for a more demur and mature look in a long sleeved pink Christian Dior dress.
After dazzling at Cannes on Wednesday night, the two stars again stole the limelight, despite the presence of sexy stars who are well below half their ages.
Madonna is approaching her 50th birthday in August, while Sharon already welcomed her sixth decade in March.
Actress Natalie Portman wowed in an elegant off the shoulder dress
On Wednesday, Madonna lapped up the attention at the world première of the singer's Malawi AIDS orphans documentary I Am Because We Are.
And when asked whether she would be adopting another child from Malawi and replied: "Yes, I hope so."
In 2006, Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie adopted David Banda, now two, from Malawi.
Yesterday, the singer compared the criticism they received at the time to birthing pains.
Video:Madonna e Sharon, sfida a colpi di fascino
She said: "I was meant to have him and it was a big struggle and I didn't understand [the criticism] but in the end I rationalised that when a woman has a child and has a natural childbirth she suffers an enormous amount.
"I went through my own birthing pains ... in the end it made me stronger so I can't complain."
Meanwhile following in Madonna's choice of dress colour Swedish model Victoria Silvstedt sizzled in a stunning and very revealing tight pink number.
Actress Natalie Portman looked a picture of elegance in an off the shoulder puffy white dress.
Petra Nemcova is a model of beauty as she poses for photographers at Cannes
Also attending the star-studded event was American rapper P Diddy, Cliff Richard and Denis Hopper.
Dita Von Teese opted for a bright purple dress by Gautier couture while Donatella Versace was a special guest on Madonna's table during the charity evening and wore a pale green dress by her own label.
On Wednesday, Madonna and Sharon's gowns and looks drew several parallels.
From their choice of black gowns, their pink lips and smoky eyes down to their darkened roots, onlookers were startled by the similarities between the two women.
Burlesque artist Dita von Teese stands out in her plunging purple ensemble while Italian designer Donatella Versace wore a green dress of her own label
Their remarkably youthful complexions isn't the only thing they share.
Both are mothers of three and have gone down the adoption route of parenthood - Sharon has three adopted boys, while Madonna attracted controversy for her adoption of David.
Christian Slater couldn't keep his arm off stunning girlfriend and Jimmy Choo founder Tamara Mellon
Both women have been married twice - albeit one, Madonna, is still wed to her second husband.
Sequins and superstars: Madonna and Sharon Stone combine their star power to co-host the annual amFAR fundraiser
Double knockout: Madonna and Sharon look incredible on the red carpet as they smile and joke for the cameras
After a failed marriage to actor Sean Penn - who is head juror at this year's festival - in the 1980s, Madonna married British director Guy Ritchie in 2000 and the couple have a seven-year-old Rocco together, as well as Madonna's daughter Lourdes, 11, from a previous relationship.Sharon split from second husband, San Francisco Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein in 2004, and was previously wed to film producer Michael Greenburg for three years in the mid 1980s.
Madonna's 1993 flop thriller Body Of Evidence, co-starring Willem Dafoe, was widely compared to Sharon's most famous role, opposite Michael Douglas, in Basic Instinct the previous year.
After stepping out earlier in the week in kinky boots and leather gloves, Madonna went for the more refined look in a stunning Chanel black and white beaded gown with fringed sleeves and trim.
The Material Girl, 49, made her entrance at the screening with Guy, who looked remarkably glum next to his excited wife.
Material girl Madonna opts for lashings of sequins, and beads on a body-skimming gown which reveals only her toned back
Madonna and Sharon are teaming up tonight to raise money at the AmFAR Cinema Against AIDS fundraiser, which auctions off items for an AIDS charity.
Last year as compere, Sharon raised £3.5million at the annual Cannes aids benefit.
Stone is on the French Riviera to promote her new film No Subtitles Necessary: Laszlo & Vilmos, which screens tomorrow.
Madonna and husband Guy Ritchie pose together. The event was the screening of the singer's documentary
Nació en Pensilvania, 1958. A los 17 años Sharon Stone ganó el concurso de belleza Miss Pennsylvania. El modelaje le trajo muchas satisfacciones. Después comenzó a tomar pequeños papeles como actriz y su primera película fue “Stardust Memories” (1980). En 1992, protagonizó "Instinto Básico", con Michael Douglas. Y hoy nos sorprende con “Basic Instinct 2”, donde a pesar de sus 48 años, se muestra sexy y despierta los bajos instintos.
Controversial: Sharon Stone on the night she made the comment in Cannes
SHARON STONE
