Actress Sharon Stone isn't happy about Chanel West Coast repeating her name throughout her single "Sharon Stoned."
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the Golden Globe winner claims she "maintains strict control" over how her likeness is used. This prompted her to file a lawsuit against the TV personality/rapper in an effort to protect her reputation.
The actress' legal team states that Chanel says the name "'Sharon Stone' thirty-three times" and repeats "'Sharon' ninety-nine times." They feel like this "mantra-like repetition" is the Chanel's attempt to profit on Stone's "extraordinary level of popularity and fame."
The single was released in 2018 while the accompanying video hit the internet in April 2019. The visual recreates scenes from Basic Instinct and other signature moments of Stone's career.
Chanel admits the video is meant to pay homage to "some classic, iconic Sharon Stone movie scenes" but Stone thinks that this is just an attempt to capitalize on her image. Her lawyers claim the intention was never to pay respect to the actress and that Chanel actually wanted to "trade on the fame and publicity rights of Sharon Stone for [her] commercial gain."
In her lawsuit, Stone cites her awards and nominations as well as her philanthropic work as reasons the rapper would want to attach herself to her image. Stone is suing for unfair competition and violations of her right of publicity. She's also seeking an injunction that stops Chanel from using her name or image in addition to punitive damages and disgorgement of any profit that the song/video earned.
Chanel released a statement on Wednesday, saying that she's "surprised and disappointed" by the lawsuit.
“Sharon pulled out of participating in the music video the day of the shoot after months of conversations, in-person meetings with myself and the director, two dance rehearsals and even had her own ideas that she shared with myself and my team for the collaborative on the video,” Chanel said. “To be frank, the entire production team and myself were surprised when she walked off. Nonetheless, the shoot proceeded. I am an artist who was expressing myself through music by making a song and video about someone whom I greatly admire. I only had the best intentions to create something visually amazing that highlights Sharon Stone as well as myself and for that I have done nothing wrong.”
