'I need to ignore my mother so she will die' - Sharon Stone confronts 'complex grief' and feeling 'relieved' by her mother's death
The iconic actress shares why she believes in ‘complex grief, complicated grief, ambiguous grief’
Prior to Sharon Stone’s mother, Dorothy, passing away in 2025, the iconic Basic Instinct star hoped she would finally hear her mother say “I’m proud of you. I love you. I’m sorry.” She didn’t.
Realising this, Sharon knew she had to "detach and release" and let her mother die - something which brought her relief and a feeling of freedom, she candidly shared on the Anderson Cooper podcast, All There Is.
Sharon said, "It's okay for me to feel free from my mom, free from her trauma now that she's gone."
In an exceptionally moving and vulnerable discussion, Sharon explained how her own mother’s difficult upbringing put strain on their relationship, right up to the end. She shared, "My mom behaved often as if she didn't like me at all. She had a very awful childhood and was removed from her home when she was nine because she was so violently abused.
"When my mom died, she was at my house and I was taking care of her, but she was terrified to die because she was afraid her parents would be there… The night that she was dying, she was really fighting it.
"[She was] holding on and holding on, and I finally realised I have to let go. I need to stop walking in the room. I need to go upstairs and ignore my mother so she will die."
Despite everything, the Casino star still wanted something from her mother - "I wanted her to say, ‘I'm proud of you. I love you. I'm sorry. You're important to me.’
"I wasn't gonna get them, and I had to make peace with the fact that my mom was not going to do that. In order for her to die in peace, I had to release her."
After Dorothy died, Sharon shared that she felt relieved - and the idea of complex and complicated grief is something she thinks people should be more understanding about.
Speaking about death, she said "There can be a lot of positive feelings, particularly when you care for someone who's dying over a long period of time. The caregiver can just be worn to pieces, and the relief a caregiver can feel when that is over is enormous.
"People talk about complex grief, complicated grief, ambiguous grief. There's a whole range of emotions over death that are completely understandable.
"There are many complicated reasons why people can feel relief when someone passes. And culturally, we don't have a lot of allowance for mixed feelings."
A tough topic, indeed, but Sharon’s candor and bravery in speaking out resonated with plenty of people online. Replying to the social media clip, one fan shared, 'Well said. Very honest. Very relatable. Is it also the case that so often the grief starts even before the actual event? So in a way the relief is that too, rather than waiting and fearing the actual event'.
Another added, 'Thank you for this. I was ragged caring for my mother who had cancer. I was 25 when she died and I was relieved. And I felt so guilty'.
