Sharon Stone Claims The Infamous Leg-Crossing Scene In ‘Basic Instinct’ Led A Judge To Rule Against Her In A Custody Battle Because She ‘Makes Sex Movies’

In her 2021 memoir, The Beauty of Living Twice, actress Sharon Stone revealed how she was tricked into her famous leg-crossing scene from Basic Instinct.

“I just need you to remove your panties,” she was told, “as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on.” Stone saw the scene for the first time in a “a room full of agents and lawyers, most of whom had nothing to do with the project.” After the screening, Stone walked up to director Paul Verhoeven and slapped him. “I was just an actress, just a woman; what choices could I have” she wrote. “But I did have choices. So I thought and thought and I chose to allow this scene in the film. Why Because it was correct for the film and for the character; and because, after all, I did it.”

That scene had an impact on Stone’s career, as well as her personal life.

During an episode of the Table for Two podcast, Stone claimed that she lost custody of her child with ex-husband Phil Bronstein partially due to Basic Instinct. “When the judge asked my child — my tiny little boy, ‘Do you know your mother makes sex movies’ Like, this kind of abuse by the system, that I was considered what kind of parent I was, because I made that movie,” she said.

“People are walking around with no clothes on at all on regular TV now and you saw maybe like a 16th of a second of possible nudity of me — and I lost custody of my child,” she added. Sharon was left so devastated by the judge’s decision that it had a physical impact on her wellbeing. “I ended up in the Mayo Clinic with extra heartbeats in the upper and lower chambers of my heart,” she revealed. “It broke my heart.”

You can listen to the episode below.