Sharon Stone delivers powerful speech on moving past labels

Sharon Stone delivered a striking, career-spanning speech at a recent event, presented by Lifetime, on Wednesday night at the Beverly Hills Hotel, reflecting on her decades in Hollywood and how she's redefined her own identity within the industry. 

Closing out the evening following remarks from actor and podcaster Marc Maron, Stone told the crowd, "You have to claw your way to the top. So, for those of us who got here, it's the top of our heads that broke that glass ceiling that you're all getting the benefits of."

Stone went on to describe her personal journey moving past the "sex symbol" label that defined much of her early career. 

"And I have gone the distance. I have gone the distance from being a sex symbol… and I did it by keeping both of these tired feet that hurt from wearing four-inch heels on poured concrete floors," she said, adding, "I kept them firmly planted on terra firma because there is no gray in the red, white and blue." 

She closed her remarks by tying her personal resilience to a broader sense of collective strength. 

"So the power that I feel in the power of women, I get because I am standing in the middle of you, and I do not stand alone when I stand here."

The event, hosted by comedian Iliza Shlesinger, also honoured Jennifer Hudson, NBCUniversal executive Pearlena Igbokwe and Melissa McCarthy as fellow guests of honour, alongside the annual Women's Impact Report highlighting other leaders across entertainment. 

Stone spotlighted the American Civil Liberties Union during her remarks and, according to some accounts of the night, also drew laughs earlier in her speech with a characteristically blunt piece of career advice about the difference between reaching "the middle" versus "the top" in Hollywood.