Sharon Stone Opens up About Losing $18 Million After Medical Emergency

Sharon Stone's 2001 stroke left her with "zero money" after people took "advantage" of her.

By Anna Rumer

Sharon Stone is opening up about moving forward after she was left with "zero money" following her 2001 stroke. The Basic Instinct actress, 66, opened up to The Hollywood Reporter in an interview published on Tuesday, July 9, revealing that the stroke – and subsequent nine-day brain bleed – changed her mindset in life.

"A Buddhist monk told me that I had been reincarnated into my same body," Stone explained. "I had a death experience and then they brought me back. I bled into my brain for nine days, so my brain was shoved to the front of my face. It wasn't positioned in my head where it was before."

"And while that was happening, everything changed," she recalled. "My sense of smell, my sight, my touch. I couldn't read for a couple of years. Things were stretched and I was seeing color patterns. A lot of people thought I was going to die."

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As she was recovering from her stroke, Stone said people were taking "advantage" of her, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars – among other things. "I had $18 million saved because of all my success, but when I got back into my bank account, it was all gone. My refrigerator, my phone – everything was in other people's names," Stone revealed. "I had zero money."

Despite the devastating loss, Stone said she's managed to shift her mindset and move forward. "I decided to stay present and let go," she shared. "I decided not to hang onto being sick or to any bitterness or anger. If you bite into the seed of bitterness, it never leaves you. But if you hold faith, even if that faith is the size of a mustard seed, you will survive. So, I live for joy now. I live for purpose."

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Stone also reflected on her childhood, growing up as one of four kids in a small town supported by her father's $14,000 salary. That didn't keep her from having high hopes for her future. "When I was little, growing up in Meadville, Pennsylvania, I had this feeling that I was going to be a movie star. This is who I was going to be," she said. "I was going to live in a house that had a spiral staircase."

She continued, "It was weird because I was super shy. When I read from the Bible in church, I was so shy my tears would drop on the Bible pages. I was the sort of kid who sat in my closet with a flashlight and read. But I just knew I was going to be a star. So, when it happened, I just suddenly felt like I was in my body."

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