Sharon Stone says her AIDS activism almost destroyed her career: "I didn't work for eight years"

The actress Sharon Stone (Pennsylvania, 64 years old) told the Red Sea Film Festival, which is being held these days in Saudi Arabia, that her decision to support amfAR, an organization founded by Elizabeth Taylor that is dedicated to raising funds for HIV/AIDS research, posed a threat to his work.

“It destroyed my career.

I didn't work for eight years.

I was told that if I ever talked about condoms again the funds would be removed.

They threatened me with death on several occasions and I decided that I had to move on, ”explained the protagonist of

(1995) last Friday in a talk, visibly moved, according to

magazine .

The actress and activist explained in the same conversation that it came as a big surprise to her when the charity first asked her in 1995 to replace then-chair Elizabeth Taylor at its famous annual fundraiser at the London Film Festival. Cannes.

Stone discussed her proposal with her then-publicist, Cindy Berger, who had already warned him of the dangers of accepting it.

“She told me: 'If you do it, you will destroy your career.'

At that time you were not allowed to talk about AIDS.

So I told him: 'I know, but I'm going to do it, you're going to kill me.'

She replied: 'And if you don't, I'm going to kill you too,' explained the artist.

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“I had no idea of ​​the resistance, the cruelty, the hate and the oppression that we would face,” Stone added.

Despite the threats she faced, the actress decided to stay her course and vowed to support the research campaign until drugs that could fight the virus were found.

"I stayed for 25 years, until we had ads for AIDS treatments on television just like we had for aspirin," explained the interpreter, who assured in the same talk that she does not regret having made that decision, despite the risks.

The artist also wanted to take the moment to declare herself proud of many of the achievements of the organization she leads, pointing out that before antiretroviral drugs were developed to fight HIV, 40 million people died after contracting the virus.

"Now 37 million live with HIV and can do it in a healthy way," she added, visibly moved.

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A post shared by Sharon Stone (@sharonstone)

After an eight-year absence, Sharon Stone returned to present the amfAR Gala held at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

Her last appearance at the same event was in 2014, in the 21st edition, when the organization managed to raise 35 million dollars (more than 33 million euros) in one night.

In addition to maintaining her fight against HIV, since the beginning of November the artist has faced a particular fight against a fibroid tumor that was diagnosed after obtaining an erroneous result after an initial consultation.

Stone made it public through her Instagram profile, where she also announced that she will be out for four to six weeks to fully recover.

“Another misdiagnosis and another wrong procedure.

And with a double epidural.

After the pain worsened, I decided to ask for a second opinion: I have a large fibroid tumor that must be removed, ”the interpreter wrote in a Stories published on her account, in which she has 3.4 million followers.