Sharon Stone’s Wildest Hollywood Tale—And It Actually Happened

Hollywood has plenty of monster stories. This one just happens to be real: Sharon Stone once set up an early Father's Day surprise for her husband that ended with a Komodo dragon chewing on his foot. Welcome to Los Angeles, where even a zoo tour can turn into a creature feature.

The setup

Saturday, June 9, 2001. Sharon Stone arranged a behind-the-scenes Komodo dragon visit at the Los Angeles Zoo for her then-husband, Phil Bronstein, who at the time was the executive editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He was obsessed with these animals — the closest thing to a living dinosaur you can actually meet — and she later explained the appeal as getting a glimpse of prehistory up close.

Komodo dragons, for the record, are not theme-park props. They're seven-foot apex predators that can take down wild boar and, yes, even water buffalo. Before Bronstein stepped in, the keeper played it down: kids go in all the time, it's safe, just ditch the white sneakers so the dragon doesn't confuse them with the white rats it's fed. Great note. Less great omen.

How it actually went down

• Bronstein removed his shoes as instructed and entered the enclosure barefoot while Stone watched from outside.
• For a moment, it was serene: man and lizard eyeing each other like a museum exhibit had come to life.
• Then the dragon lunged and clamped onto his bare left foot, crushing his big toe and severing tendons.
• Stone started shouting for help as the animal tried to drag him; Bronstein kept his head and pressed down with his heel to pin the dragon by the neck.
• There was a lot of blood, and yes, kids nearby got a front-row view of something they did not plan to see that day.
• The keeper intervened, grabbed the animal, and freed Bronstein within seconds — felt like hours.

The damage and the hospital sprint

Bronstein was rushed to UCLA Medical Center. Surgeons reattached his torn tendons and reconstructed the crushed toe. Alongside the obvious trauma, there were concerns about venom and nasty bacteria — either way, not the kind of bite you want. He was discharged a few days later, incredibly lucky considering what Komodos can do to prey (think: swallow huge chunks, goats included).

The aftermath

The LA Zoo reviewed its behind-the-scenes access after the incident, though reports at the time suggested those close-up encounters didn't disappear overnight. The tabloids had a field day. Late-night hosts got their jokes in. And one headline in particular basically wrote itself:

"A Komodo dragon ate my husband."

That line has followed the story ever since.

The people part

Stone kept working — she even returned to the franchise that made her a household name with Basic Instinct 2 — and later in 2001 she faced a serious health scare of her own when she was hospitalized with a hemorrhage. She recovered. Stone has had more than her share of Hollywood battles, on and off screen, and somehow keeps rolling.

Bronstein and Stone eventually divorced a few years later. He remarried, stayed active in journalism, and, by all accounts, the foot healed.

The story that wouldn't die (even in 2018)

Years later, Stone admitted the reptile encounter stuck with her. In 2018, she thought a Komodo dragon was roaming her Beverly Hills neighborhood. It was not a sequel. It was Stephen — a neighbor's monitor lizard that had gotten loose. Different species, same adrenaline.

One last note on the dragon

If you're assigning blame here, don't. The Komodo at the center of this — reportedly named Komo — was doing what Komodos do. Nature doesn't care about celebrity or press credentials, and it definitely doesn't care about white sneakers. If this saga teaches anything, it's that access has limits and shoes are good. Also: never confuse an apex predator for a photo op, even at a zoo.