Last week, Britney Spears took to Twitter to share some of the women who have “truly inspired” her life, and the first photo in her tweet was actress Sharon Stone. While the pick might have seemed out of left field, it turns out the pair have been in touch for awhile now — including at one of the toughest points in Spears’ life.
On Wednesday’s (March 31) Kelly Clarkson Show, the singer/host asked Stone about Spears calling her an inspiration, and the Basic Instinct star shared a surprising story about the pop star.
“Britney wrote to me a very long and poignant letter during a very difficult time in her life — about the time when … she shaved her head — wanting me to help her,” Stone said, recalling Spears’ very public struggles back in 2007, right before she was involuntarily committed to the hospital. “I was in a very difficult time in my life and I couldn’t help myself. But the truth of the matter is, we both needed help — she needed help, and I needed help.”
Spears’ hospitalization led to the conservatorship that still controls her finances to this day, and that arrangement is currently under a microscope thanks to the Framing Britney Spears documentary released on FX and Hulu last month.
“The true fact of it is, it’s very hard to be a very successful woman and not have everyone controlling you, taking your finances and handling you,” Stone continued, alluding to Spears’ situation, in which her father controls her finances and her business deals. “Women, and I’m sure all of the young stars, get handled. You get handled so much that it’s just — there is a huge breaking point, and there’s a point where you get broken.
“The thing with Britney Spears is so out of control and so awful, and I can say it’s been very out of control and very awful more than once in my life,” Stone told Clarkson. “And I have certainly had it. And it’s very complicated to take control of your life. It’s very hard to get control of your finances.”
Back in October, months before the premiere of Framing Britney Spears but in the thick of the fan-driven #FreeBritney movement, Stone commented on one of Spears’ Instagram posts: “You have a right to an attorney NOT provided by your family !! You can get your own attorney ! You deserve that .”
On Tuesday, Spears herself made her first public statement about the New York Times documentary that examines her controversial conservatorship, writing on Instagram, “I didn’t watch the documentary but from what I did see of it I was embarrassed by the light they put me in. I cried for two weeks and well …. I still cry sometimes !!!! I do what I can in my own spirituality with myself to try and keep my own joy … love … and happiness !!!! Every day dancing brings me joy !!! I’m not here to be perfect … perfect is boring … I’m here to pass on kindness !!!!”
Among the other inspirational women Spears shared via Twitter on March 24: Miley and Noah Cyrus, Natalie Portman and her little sister Jamie Lynn Spears.
Watch Stone’s appearance on The Kelly Clarkson Show below.
