Sharon's bad karma comment leaves China 'Stone' cold, dropped from Dior ads

During the Cannes Film Festival, Stone, a good friend of Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, said she was "not happy about the way the Chinese are treating the Tibetans."

"I've been concerned about how we should deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine. I don't think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And then the earthquake and all this stuff happened, and then I thought, is that karma? When you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?" she said.

Stone also said that she had recently received a letter from a Tibetan organization planning to do disaster relief work in China. She said that made her cry and also understand that "sometimes you have to learn to put your head down and be of service even to people who are not nice to you."

Karma or not, at a time when the world was grieving over the tens of thousands who died due to the earthquake that devastated the Sichuan Province, Stone's comment was most inappropriate.

Naturally, the 1.3 billion Chinese people were up in arms calling her a "state enemy," while state-run news agency Xinhua went a step further, calling her "the public enemy of all mankind." Though the Chinese foreign ministry was discrete enough (unlike Stone) to merely say, "We hope that as an actress she should contribute to our two people's mutual trust, understanding and friendship," the uproar was evident in China as the Chinese netizens swore her off, even as Chinese cinema chains decided to ban her movies indefinitely and Chinese actors slammed the "cold-blooded mannequin" for lacking "humanity."

Before the protests took a snowballing effect, French fashion brand Christian Dior acted fast, dropping Stone from its advertisings and stores in China and apologizing on her behalf for her "hurtful" comments.

"We don't agree with her (Stone's) hasty, unreflecting remarks and we deeply regret them. Dior was one of the first international brands to enter China and has won the affection and respect of the consuming public. We absolutely do not support any remark that hurts the Chinese people's feelings. We express our sorrow over the compatriots who lost their lives in the earthquake in Wenchuan, Sichuan, and we extend our sympathy and condolences to the people in the disaster area," Dior said in its statement.

Dior said it shared "the pain of the Chinese people and earthquake victims in Sichuan" and also issued a statement in which Stone was cited as saying that she was "deeply sorry" for the comment she made and she would "wholly devote" herself to helping earthquake victims.

"My erroneous words and deeds angered and saddened the Chinese people, and I sincerely apologise for this," Stone of the Basic Instinct and Sliver fame, said in the statement issued by Dior China. "I am willing to take part in the relief work of China's earthquake and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people."