Sharon Loves Phil, Lesbians Love Sharon

New York Daily News
- by Mitchell Fink -

Talk about lovebirds.

Sharon Stone and hubby Phil Bronstein liked getting married the first time so much that they did it again.

On Valentine's Day, two years to the day that they walked down the aisle, the duo renewed their wedding vows.

And the glow clearly hadn't worn off for Mr. and Mrs. Bronstein when I ran into them Saturday night in Los Angeles, where Stone was honored at a Human Rights Campaign gala for her continuing support of gay and lesbian issues.

"I don't think I can talk about Phil without crying," Stone told me. "I don't think it's any secret that I looked in all the wrong places for a long time."

The segment, one of three stories in "Walls," was written and directed by DeGeneres' lover, Anne Heche, who hailed Stone Saturday as "the honorary lesbian of the year."

Stone didn't a miss a beat with that one. "I am exactly like a gay woman except that I don't sleep with women," quipped Stone during her speech at the sold-out gala.

The Human Rights event also honored NBC West Coast president Scott Sassa and the cast from the network's hit sitcom "Will & Grace" — and it proved to be a veritable lovefest for Stone, DeGeneres and Heche.

Heche told me her work on "Walls" was "the best thing I've done next to falling in love with Ellen."

Stone, in turn, called Heche "the best director I've ever worked with. She taught me romantic comedy in one second."

Heche said Stone "was the only person in Hollywood to send me flowers after the announcement" in 1997 that confirmed Heche's involvement with DeGeneres.

"And Sharon is a darn good kisser, too," DeGeneres said, referring to some of their scenes together in "Walls."

"Sharon jumped in headfirst," said Heche.

"So to speak," quipped Stone.

The highlight of the evening was when Stone whipped off her Adrienne Landau designer pink embroidered fox coat and put it up for auction to raise money to block the Knight Initiative, a California proposition on the March 7 primary ballot that bans gay marriages.

The coat was sold for $16,000 to a gay woman who said she plans to give it to her lover as a present for their upcoming wedding.


Ellen Looking for Some Variety

Speaking of Ellen, the former sitcom star is getting all ready for her return to network TV. But this time things will be different.

Unlike her last foray on the small screen, DeGeneres says she doesn't want her sexuality to get in the way of the as-yet-untitled variety show she's starring in for CBS.

"The character will definitely be me," said DeGeneres, who will play a TV variety host trying to get herself back on the air, a part she described as "Carol Burnett-like."

"But I'm not intending to make my own sexuality an issue on the show," she added. DeGeneres blames the downfall and eventual cancellation of "Ellen" on her coming out.

"Maybe I was naive to think I could change the world," she said. "But someday people will look back on that last season of 'Ellen' and they'll see it for how terrific it was. I'm more proud of those particular shows than anything else I've done."

The series starts production next month.


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