Sharon Stone opened up about an emotional loss this weekend, paying tribute to friend Eileen Mitzman ― who died Sunday of COVID-19 ― on social media.
Shortly before Mitzman’s death, the “Basic Instinct” star posted an Instagram video honouring her friend and fellow HIV/AIDS activist, who she called her “adopted grandmother.”
In the clip, she explained that Mitzman and her husband, Neil, became involved with the Concerned Parents for AIDS Research after their daughter, Marni, died of an AIDS-related illness in 1991. The Mitzmans’ other daughter, Stacey, had been killed in a 1982 car accident.
“I asked them if they could be my adopted grandparents since mine had passed away,” Stone said in the video, viewable below. “They became my adopted grandparents and my fellow HIV/AIDS workers and we worked very hard together to do a lot of good in this world.”
Stone said that because of coronavirus restrictions, Mitzman, 85, wasn’t allowed to see any family members or other visitors in the days leading up to her death at a hospital in New York City. Still, the actor said her friend would “die a warrior.”
“I think we should grieve like warriors now because holding grief will only make us sick and affect our lungs and our respiratory systems in a way we should not allow that to do,” she said. “Tonight I want you to go out your window and I want you to scream and I want you to fight back and cry and scream out against this thing for Eileen. I don’t want her to die alone ... I want you to let her know that you respect her life and that you respect her death.”
Mitzman’s husband died in 2014.
Stone suggested parallels between Mitzman’s views of how the U.S. government dealt with the HIV/AIDS crisis in the 1980s and ’90s and how it was handling the coronavirus pandemic.
“She was furious about what is happening,” she said. “She was furious about the way AIDS was handled, and she was furious about how this was being handled.”
After Mitzman’s death was confirmed Sunday, Stone followed up her video with a second post showing her sister, Kelly, and parents Dot and Joe posing with her pal at various events over the years.
“We lost a big love,” she wrote.
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