Stone alleged that a member of the Basic Instinct production team told her to take her underwear off during the infamous cross-legged scene. Before she agreed, Stone said she was told her private area would not be visible on the big screen. After shooting the scenes, however, Stone was surprised to see the final results.
“After we shot Basic Instinct, I got called in to see it. Not on my own with the director, as one would anticipate, given the situation that has given us all pause, so to speak, but with a room full of agents and lawyers, most of whom had nothing to do with the project,” Stone wrote in her memoir, according to Vanity Fair. “That was how I saw my vagina-shot for the first time, long after I’d been told, ‘We can’t see anything—I just need you to remove your panties, as the white is reflecting the light, so we know you have panties on.'”
The Oscar nominee continued, “Yes, there have been many points of view on this topic, but since I’m the one with the vagina in question, let me say: The other points of view are bulls–t.”
After watching the scenes, Stone went to the projection booth, slapped [director] Paul [Verhoeven] across the face and called her lawyer Marty Singer.
“Marty told me that they could not release this film as it was,” Stone recalled in her memoir. “That I could get an injunction. First, at that time, this would give the film an X rating. Remember, this was 1992, not now, when we see erect penises on Netflix. And, Marty said, per the Screen Actors Guild, my union, it wasn’t legal to shoot up my dress in this fashion. Whew, I thought.”
