a little update... Sharon Stone apologizes for remark on China quake By HENRY SANDERSON – 3 hours ago BEIJING (AP) — French fashion house Christian Dior said Thursday it has dropped Sharon Stone from its Chinese ads and released a statement from the actress apologizing for saying China's earthquake may have been bad karma for its treatment of Tibet. 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. Stone's comments caused considerable anger in the Chinese media. The official Xinhua News Agency said in a commentary Thursday she was the "public enemy of all mankind." The public relations manager for Dior in Shanghai who gave only her surname, Guo, said Stone 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." Chinese media have erupted in indignation over foreign criticism of the country ahead of the Beijing Olympics in August. During the international leg of the Olympic torch relay, many Chinese reacted strongly to protests over China's rule of Tibet. Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang said Thursday he had taken note of Stone's apology. "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?"
im pretty sure that the chinese ppl do not want her to help out with the earthquake. from the interview it was quite clear what her views were and how she saw of the situation. this apology seems to be damage limitation and tbh i think it was a rather contradictory statement how she sed that i don't like ppl treating others badly when she quite clearly sed that she cried when the tibetans asked her if she wanted to help the earthquake sufferers. isn't this not treating someone badly? by not helping the innocent chinese ppl is what i call treating someone badly so who was she to comment.
Shit has a way of coming back to haunt you... Now THIS is karma. Maybe she'll finally understand the word, LOL... Ralph
It looks more like a quick fix from Christian Dior's side. Since Sharon Stone is promoting their products in China. If there is no reaction from Dior, there is a big chance the Chinese people will boycot Dior as well. So this news message is not convincing to me.
Dior is trying to mitigate the effect of her idiocy by taking her off and being reactive to her comment....not suprised by it by i think more needs to be done to her by the chinese government...like ban her form entering it if she is going to try and provide aid to the earthquake victims...
No offense, but really? Action by the Chinese government? Then why not send a team of special commandos to kill her too? While idiotic statements abound on all sides, can you seriously expect that the Chinese government would be so reactionary as to disallow someone a visa based on a statement of opinion, no matter how stupid? I'm not sure if that would be in China's best interests as that is exactly the type of behavior that critics of the PRC has long lamented, that is, if a persons' political views are not in line with that of the government then the government will do things to you. Honestly, there's a difference between freedom of opinions and speech versus government action to censor or abridge opinions that it doesn't agree with. What next? Burning all the books and movies that have Sharon Stone in it? If the Chinese government were smart, it would stay above the fray and not get involved one way or the other. Stone will trip over her own words, no need for the PRC to add a little extra shove. Ralph
i dont think its fair if i said that the american's deserved the 911 terrorist attacks because of the many wars and killings they have done in THEIR history is it... hell its innocent peoples lives being taken away who probably havnt even made their mark on this world yet.
what an ignorant comment to make on her part. everyone is commenting on her remarks. not just Chinese ppl. all the entertainment shows have made the comment about how shocked they are that she could actually say that. i think that she will be losing some work because of this. she has no real beliefs or values. she merely jumps on the current "in" bandwagon whether it be religion or issues. she joined the scientology bandwagon a few years back when it became really popular with the stars and then she became a buddhist because richard gere introduced her to the dalai lama!!! hello...... just because you were introduced to the guy doesnt make him your friend! she has no thoughts of her own. she merely comments on what the hot topic of the week is. i cant imagine her trying to help the earthquake victims. even if she did try to help i think it would only hender the efforts. the chinese are so angry about her insensitive comments that no one would pay any attention to her. shame on her for downplaying the whole situation.
lol so the earthquake is because of the bad karma chinese people have? then what about america? we must have a ton of shit coming back at us then lol
wow, the so call religions can really mess the shit outta a person's mind, cant it? O AND BY THE WAY, WHERE THE HELL IS JIN?!?!?!?!?
An interesting aside from all this is that it seems as if everyone here easily falls into a China versus United States mode of thinking when making comparative arguments. I wonder at this automatic tendency to pit the US (and not Russia, UK, or whoever) against China in any controversy; are we preconditioning ourselves for conflict between the US and PRC, or have we already come to accept it as inevitable? The former is an act of God, the latter an act of Bush. He's the only one I know who can plunge an economy into recession despite having a war on (which usually stimulates economies). Ralph
In HK there are still lots of activities around collecting money for the earthquake. Just wonder if there are activities abroad?
alright so i went a little too far with my statment about banning her from entering the country, but honestly from your statement you honestly think China is a democratic country...they censor what you see on the internet and everything else. if someobdy is going to be promoting descent in the goverment, you don't think the chinese people are going to sack them? Comon you seem to understand chinese politics yet you think of them as a democratic state.....
I was compelled by the political correctness of all these replies (from the reporters from various countries, I wonder where are the US or the UK reporters at on that count, and PA members). I respect the fact that if Sharon Stone truly believer whatever she said, she owns up to it and let that be that. It is not her fault that somehow people place her on a pedestal to be worshipped and assumed that her opinion is worth more than the average Joe. She isn't even a political figure who controls resources going into or out of China, so she's more than entitled to her opinion. It was the public's fault to overreact and hold her as an authority of anything. This is the problem of news creation: if she said something sympathetic or whatnot, people don't give it a second thought because it's so totally expected, I mean, we SHOULD be compassionate right? But you know what? It is not REQUIRED of actors to be sympathetic or even compassionate, as long as they are good at what they should be good at, which is to act well or sing well or whatnot, and the fact that she didn't give a canned answer to the press was something to be appreciated (if one can see through the opinion). I don't need to agree with an opinion to appreciate the thought behind an opinion. And to hell with political correctness. Then whole apology/taking it back muckup is probably (surely) pressure from agents and other people whose pay cheque depends on her public relation, which is a shame, actually. I saw people who got more agitated than is reasonable for this piece of news. Yet at the same time, I saw people who has the integrity to realize that, yes, one can disagree on something without passing moral judgment. It was the flaming clan mixed up politics and media, not Sharon Stone (her original speech anyway), because what she said was more respecting the Tibetans for their help for the Earthquake despite the substandard treatment by China (or Chinese government) than blaming China for the natural disaster. The whole holding double standard thing is just very revolting, some may think it is so noble to be defending their ancestry. Yet I can safely say that they didn't witness the joy and excitement the Chinese population exhibited towards 9/11. It was unseemly at best. Given this kind of attitude from the Chinese, I would say it's fair game that someone burst their bubble about the whole moral high horse thing. Charity and sympathy can only go around if it is reciprocated. If China doesn't do any giving (of sympathy), it's only reasonable that people are going to talk behind their back (and, like Sharon Stone, comment something that is less-than-polite but considered by many). And it's sheer hypocrisy for the reporters to be saying "politics and people shouldn't mix", because people are RULED by politics. If the government wants something done, especially if it is a government with the will and means like China, does the people have any say about it? Politics and people SHOULDN'T mix, but they do, and there's no helping it from happening because people can only be part of the solution or part of the problem. To perpetuate politics that are inappropriate or unfair is being part of the problem, thus people are taking it so seriously when said problem is addressed because they feel that they are being chastised personally. I always hope to see organization bargaining with aid-recipients like a trade agreement: if you do this and this and this, you will get this and this and this. But I guess people hold charity and philanthropy in the highest esteem that they cannot lower themselves to do otherwise even if it could transform the aid into a long term solution... Inspired by a blog post from mainland China: I hope that someone who comprehend the external quote above can understand where I am coming from, it would suck if they just think that my comment is driven SOLELY by my anti-China sentiment (which it is NOT, just for the record). I can separate my attitude from my opinion better than that, unlike most.
Trust China to be overreacting. Always so reliable and predictable. Probably having the hit man lined up about now.
