28 May 2008
Sharon Stone's regrets 'karma' remarks
(BBC) American actress Sharon Stone has sparked criticism in China after claiming the recent earthquake could have been the result of bad "karma". Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, Ms Stone linked the recent disaster to Beijing's policy on Tibet. She said: "I thought, 'Is that karma?' When you are not nice, bad things happen to you. 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". "And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma?" In response to furore over her comments, she said: "Yes, I misspoke. I could not be more regretful of that mistake. It was unintentional. I apologise, those words were never meant to be hurtful to anyone. I am deeply saddened by the pain that this whole situation has caused the victims of the devastating earthquake in China". Following her remarks, the French fashion house Christian Dior dropped her from all their advertising campaigns in China, and Xinhua called her the "public enemy of all mankind" in an editorial. Some cinema chains in China are claiming they will no longer screen her films and the actor and her films have been permanently banned by the organising committee behind the Shanghai International Film Festival.