Sharon Stone says SNL boss Lorne Michaels 'saved my life' by fighting off protesters during live monologue

Sharon Stone says Lorne Michaels "personally saved my life."

In an appearance on Dana Carvey and David Spade's Fly on the Wall podcast, Stone recalled protesters "storming" the stage when she hosted Saturday Night Live in 1992, following the release of Basic Instinct.

"A bunch of people started storming the stage, saying they were going to kill me during the opening monologue," she said. "The police that are always in there during all of that, and the security that is always in there, froze 'cause they'd never seen anything like that happen. They sort of, they froze. Lorne started screaming, 'What are you guys doing, watching the f---ing show?' And Lorne started, himself, beating up and pulling these people back from the stage."

She said the stage manager told her to pause for five seconds — though she thought they meant five minutes — and then the live show continued. "All these people are getting beat up and handcuffed right in front of me, and we went live," she said. "I was doing this live monologue while they were beating up and handcuffing people at my feet."

Reports from the incident indicate that six people were ultimately arrested. James Wagner, a spokesperson for the protesters, reportedly said, “We are protesting Hollywood’s homophobia and misogyny as exemplified in the film."

Versions of the monologue on SNL's official YouTube and in the episode streaming on Peacock appear to use footage from the dress rehearsal, as one account of the live version says the monologue was audibly interrupted by the protesters, who could be heard chanting, "Fight AIDS, not women!"

Representatives for Saturday Night Live did not respond to EW's request for comment.

Stone explained on the podcast, "They were mad because it was the beginning of my work as an AIDS field worker and as an AIDS activist. They didn't understand, nobody understood at that time, what was really happening, and they didn't know if AmFAR could be trusted."

Stone went on to detail how, at that time, they were constantly running through the audience for costume changes, and, despite the threats, the show had to go on. Stone was "terrified," she recalls. "Honestly, I blacked out for half of the show...For most of the show, I was completely blacked out with terror."

Whatever the reasons for the protest, Stone claimed Michaels, who was on hand because he was part of the opening monologue, quickly jumped into action. "Lorne was in there physically trying to contain them himself."

Representatives for Michaels did not respond to EW's request for comment.

Carvey, who was on SNL at the time, remembers the incident but didn't see it happen. "As you mention this, I remember it," he said, "but I must have been getting a wig on or something."

Carvey continued, affecting an impression of Michaels, saying, "He told me about it at the party. He said, 'There was a sucker punch.'"

Listen to Stone on Fly on the Wall below.

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