Sharon Stone calls her fame “Barney,” the purple elephant

Sharon Stone gave her fame the nickname “Barney,” the purple elephant.

The 66-year-old Basic Instinct actress recently revealed she feels like she lost her career after she nearly died from a brain hemorrhage in 2001. Now she said she uses the term to describe her fame because she feels like a giant animal that she has to drag around in public.

Speaking at the Hollywood Unlocked Impact Awards on Friday (21.06.24) at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, where the ‘Casino’ star accepted the Icon Award, she said: “I call my fame Barney the purple elephant, and sometimes I don’t want to go out because I have to take Barney with me. That can be embarrassing for other people and uncomfortable for me and makes it difficult for me to have normal relationships with people in the world.”

Sharon added that she shot into the global spotlight in the 1980s and 1990s:

“I became so famous so quickly, in a way that people wanted to belittle me because of my achievements.”

However, she said people didn’t want her to be famous because she “was a woman,” adding: “They didn’t want to give it to me because I was a woman in a position of power, and then I decided to use the fame in a way that had meaning and value to me.”

“And I believe that if you don’t use your fame to make the world a better place, it’s lost.”

Sharon concluded her acceptance speech at the awards ceremony by thanking those in the audience, including event host Tiffany Haddish, as well as Cardi B and Raven-Symoné.

She added: “I just want to thank you because so many of you in this room have made me feel safe, normal, loved and have a place to be.

“If you’re a woman or a person of color or an LGBTQ person or anyone other than a white man, sometimes you feel less worthy or smaller, when in reality you are the majority.”