Sharon Stone says ex-husband's anger over preventive mastectomy ended their marriage

Actress Sharon Stone has revealed her former husband's reaction to her decision to undergo a bilateral mastectomy after doctors discovered a large breast tumour had marked the end of their marriage, according to E! News.

Speaking on a recent episode of David Begnaud's podcast 'The Person Who Believed in Me,' Stone recalled being advised by her doctor to undergo the procedure because the tumor was suspected to be cancerous.

"One of them was bigger than the size of my entire left breast," Stone said of the tumor. "And the doctor had come out to my house and said, 'Look, we think you should have a bilateral mastectomy. This is really bad. And we usually, when they're all the way up into here, we know before we go in that they're cancer.'"

The 'Basic Instinct' star said she initially struggled to accept the possibility that she had cancer.

"I don't have cancer," she recalled telling her doctor, as per the outlet.

"He said, 'You don't get to decide that.' I said, 'I do. I do get to decide that. I'm deciding. But I am deciding that I will have a bilateral, because I'm not...around,'" Stone said.

According to the actress, her then-husband strongly opposed her decision.

"My husband said, 'This is ridiculous,' and got up and left the room," she recalled.

When asked what her husband found ridiculous, Stone responded, "That I would have a bilateral. He was furious."

Host David Begnaud noted that her husband appeared more upset about the removal of her breasts than the possibility of cancer.

"No, no," Stone replied.

The actress said her doctor intervened, telling her husband, "'If I had more patients like her, we'd have more women alive today. You need to sit down.' And I said, 'I make the decisions, not you.'"

Stone said the exchange effectively ended their relationship.

"That was the end of the marriage. That was it. He was done with me then. It was over," she said. "It was just over in the room. You could just tell. It was over."

"He thought I was ridiculous. He thought it was foolish. He thought I was making too many decisions myself," she added.

Fortunately, Stone later learned that the tumors were benign.

While the actress did not identify the former spouse in the interview, she was married to journalist and editor Phil Bronstein from 1998 to 2004. The couple adopted their son, Roan, in 2000. Stone was previously married to television producer Michael Greenburg from 1984 to 1990, according to E! News.

The Oscar-nominated actress later adopted two more sons, Laird and Quinn.