EXCLUSIVE: How Sharon Stone is Convinced Hollywood Conspiracy to 'Save' Robert De Niro's Image Stopped Her Getting Roles
Sharon Stone has a head-turning theory: she lost out on roles due to Robert De Niro.
Aug. 18 2025, Published 7:40 p.m. ET
Sharon Stone believes a Hollywood "boys' club" closed ranks to protect Robert De Niro's reputation after she received an Academy Award nomination for Casino while he did not — and that the fallout left her without film offers for years, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 67-year-old star, who played Ginger McKenna in Martin Scorsese's 1995 crime drama, said her phone "stopped ringing completely" in the wake of the recognition.
Stone Claims She Didn't Get 'Any More Parts'
Stone claimed Hollywood froze her out after her Oscar nod.
Speaking about the period after the awards season, Stone said: "I got nothing. I never got any more parts."
Asked why she thought that happened, she added: "Sometimes I think it was because I was too good. And sometimes I think when you get nominated for an Academy Award and the greatest living actor on the planet doesn't, that's an imbalance in the male-female dynamic that is not great."
A source close to the actress told us she has long believed that industry figures wanted to "smooth over" the optics of her outperforming De Niro during the campaign.
"She's convinced it became easier for studios to just not hire her than to upset certain egos," the insider claimed.
'You're Not Going To Win The Oscar'
Stone believes studios closed ranks to protect De Niro.
Stone lost the 1996 best actress Oscar to Susan Sarandon for Dead Man Walking.
De Niro – a nine-time nominee who has won twice, for The Godfather Part II and Raging Bull – was not nominated that year for his portrayal of casino boss Sam 'Ace' Rothstein.
The actress stressed De Niro himself had never expressed resentment over her nomination.
But she recalled being issued a warning by Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola before the ceremony.
"You're not going to win the Oscar, Sharon," he told her. "I didn't win it for The Godfather and Marty (Scorsese) didn't win it for Raging Bull, and you're not going to win it for Casino."
Stone recalled Francis Ford Coppola warning her she would lose.
He added: "They can't hear opera. And when you lose, Marty and I are going to be in the room, Sharon, and we want you to know you're going to lose with us and we are there with you. But your performance will stand the test of time."
Stone laughed as she recalled the exchange: "So that is what I have carried through my life – that I am a big fat loser like Marty and Francis Ford Coppola."
Her career-defining turn in Basic Instinct in 1992 had already brought her global stardom and controversy by the time she landed her role in Casino.
Stone's Comback
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Stone will return to theaters in 'Nobody 2' as a villain.
She said after its release, some casting directors also conflated her with her killer on-screen persona, Catherine Tramell from Basic Instinct.
"They said I was just like the character," Stone added.
"Not that it was a difficult part to play, and that 12 other actresses of great fame and fortune turned it down. So it went from me being nominated for a Golden Globe and people laughing when they called my name in the room, to people giving me standing ovations and making me the woman of the year."
After years of what she describes as "professional exile," Stone has returned to cinemas this month in the action thriller Nobody 2, playing a villain named Lendina.
"Now, I'm making good films," she declared. "I was good in Nobody 2, and I know it."
