Sharon Stone exposes shocking pay gap with Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct

Sharon Stone has revealed exactly how much she earned for her starring role in erotic thriller Basic Instinct – and how much more Michael Douglas took home.

Sharon Stone and Michael Douglas in Basic Instinct.

Sharon Stone has revealed the massive pay gap between her salary and that of her male co-star in her best-known film Basic Instinct.

Speaking at the New York Women In Film & Television’s 43rd annual Muse Awards lunch on Tuesday, the US actress said she only made $US500,000 ($750,000) for the 1992 erotic noir thriller.

“Michael Douglas made $US14 million ($21 million). Now, I was new. I was new and he was a very big star,” she told the crowd of mostly female film and TV executives, Page Six reports.

Stone also explained how she faced disrespect from a line producer on the Paul Verhoeven-directed project, who kept mistakenly referring to her as Karen throughout the “entirety of the film”.

“Even at the Governor’s Ball [after the Oscars], he still called me ‘Karen!’ And, I carried that humiliation really deeply within me – even though my name wasn’t on the poster,” she said.

Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone kissing in scene from Basic Instinct. Picture: TriStar/Getty Images

Stone was honoured at the event with eight other women, including The Piano Lesson star Danielle Brooks, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Janet Yang, Slumdog Millionaire star Freida Pinto and Food Network star Sandra Lee.

Lee took the stage and credited Stone for giving “me some of my best advice” when she sat next to her on a plane before she was known as a lifestyle TV host and activist.

She said that Stone told her at the time, “‘Make sure your hair is never perfect.’

“It hasn’t been perfect since you said it,” Lee quipped.

Stone has exposed the shocking pay gap between herself and Douglas. Picture: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images

Stone confirmed the meeting during her acceptance speech, saying, “Yes, Sandra and I sat on a plane together … and I told her to give more than you take, and boy, did you. I’m so proud.”

The room erupted in applause – and chuckles – when Stone shared a story from the recent Vanity Fair Oscar party.

“Sarah Paulson said to me, ‘Why is everybody so mad at you?’

“I think you all know why everyone’s so mad at me,” Stone told the crowd.

“Thank you,” she said, adding she was one of the few women, “who said that beautiful word ‘no,’ so the rest of us could say yes”.

Stone also recently choked back tears at the Women’s Cancer Research Fund’s Unforgettable Evening fundraiser when she told the shocked crowd at the charity gala, “I know that thing that you have to get on and figure out how to text the money is difficult. I’m a technical idiot, but I can write a f***ing cheque. And right now, that’s courage, too, because I know what’s happening. I just lost half my money to this banking thing.”

This article originally appeared in Page Six and was republished with permission