Stars parade, flashes crackle, groupies yelp and charity events implode. Invited to the screening of Baz Luhrmann’s biopic event dedicated to Elvis, screened Wednesday evening at the 75th edition of the Cannes Film Festival, American actress and producer Sharon Stone took advantage of her stay in Cannes to sponsor a charity auction. The event, organized on May 22 for the benefit of children’s hospitals in Poland and a support project for Ukrainians, however turned into a disaster.
“It was unimaginable, I have never seen that in my life”, testified for Nice Matin one of the organizers of the sale set up with the participation of the NGO Better World Fund. On paper, the auction was to disperse the works of thirty artists from a room in the Marriott hotel, on the Croisette, on the sidelines of the festival and a prestigious gala dinner. A simple and opulent program, until the eruption of the star. “Sharon Stone arrived at the last moment and refused to speak to the auctioneer”, testified for our colleagues one of the artists present at the event, Sunday evening. According to another witness, the actress – who would have been paid 25,000 euros for the event – would have “got up and proceeded to the sale herself, without asking anyone, disregarding all the rules”.
Protected by her bodyguards, Sharon Stone allegedly conducted the auction for nearly a quarter of an hour, committing two criminal offenses in the process: using the auctioneer’s hammer and selling objects that were not not in the auction program. What objects? Her handbag and a card holder, according to the testimonies collected by Nice Matin. Far from the hushed and polite atmosphere of a gala sale, the event would then have taken on a chaotic air. “She couldn’t proceed to the auction,” said a witness for the Nice daily, referring to the heckling of the “very enthusiastic” guests. The actress would have finally left in the middle of an auction, bullying the public. Because of the noise, it seems.
The auction was immediately canceled after the departure of the star. The preposterous interruption of the sale leaves a bitter taste for some of the organizers and participants of the event. One artist claimed to feel “humiliated” and “hurt”. “The party was ruined,” he told our colleagues. The accident is all the more painful to certain that part of the funds raised were to be donated to the Polish foundation Virtuosa, which supports children’s hospitals and intends to develop an aid program for refugees from the war in Ukraine.
