Sharon Stone has accused Hollywood of being “brutally unkind” in its treatment of her as she struggled to recover from a stroke in 2001.

Stone made the comments to Variety magazine at an event to raise awareness for the Women’s Brain Health Initiative in Los Angeles, after explaining she had had a “massive stroke … a nine-day brain bleed”.

“People treated me in a way that was brutally unkind … From other women in my own business to the female judge who handled my custody case, I don’t think anyone grasps how dangerous a stroke is for women and what it takes to recover – it took me about seven years.”

At the time of her illness, Stone was in the process of divorcing her husband, journalist Phil Bronstein, as well as attempting to maintain a high-profile screen acting career. She added: “[From] trying to keep custody of my son to just functioning – to be able to work at all … I had to remortgage my house. I lost everything I had. I lost my place in the business. I was like the hottest movie star, you know?”

Stone had shot to fame a decade earlier after playing the female lead in erotic suspense thriller Basic Instinct, and later received considerable acclaim and a best actress Oscar nomination for Martin Scorsese’s 1995 picture Casino. However in 1999 was nominated for a Golden Raspberry award for the remake of the John Cassavetes thriller Gloria.

Stone said she had been “rescued” by being given a contract by Dior in 2005, but that she felt her experience was similar to Princess Diana’s. “[She] and I were so famous – and she died and I had a stroke. And we were forgotten.”

Stone’s recently appeared in Steven Soderbergh’s HBO murder-mystery series Mosaic and has been cast in an unspecified role in the upcoming Netflix series Ratched, a spinoff/prequel to One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.