Paul Verhoeven, the director of ‘Basic Instinct’, has denied being slapped by actor Sharon Stone over the infamous leg uncrossing scene in the 1992 film.

The Dutch filmmaker told Deadline, “We are on good terms, Sharon and I, at the moment, so I would put (that story) in the category of ‘My memory is this, and your memory is that.’”

In her memoir titled ‘The Beauty of Living Twice’, Stone claimed that she was tricked into filming what she dubbed “the vagina shot” in the 1992 erotic thriller. The scene saw Stone’s character uncross her legs during a police interrogation scene and reveal to a group of officers that she is not wearing underpants. The memoir was released earlier this year.

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Verhoeven, on the other hand, claimed that the scene was inspired by a woman he had met while studying at university, who approached him and his friends and “opened her legs”. When Verhoeven told the woman that she was exposing herself, she allegedly replied: “Of course – that’s why I’m doing it!”

“I told that story to Sharon when we were having dinner together during the shoot, and she thought it would be (a) great idea to do that (in the film)”, he continued. “So, that’s my memory. She heard the story, and you know, in Joe Eszterhas’s script, there was already a mention (of that) in dialogue that he wrote between Michael Douglas and Sharon. They’re in the car, after the interrogation. It’s raining, and Sharon says to Michael, ‘You know I don’t like to wear any underwear, don’t you, Nick?’

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“So that was already in the script, but, of course, the (leg uncrossing) scene was not in the script – that came into the movie when I discussed it with Sharon, when I told her the story. I know her story is a bit different, but that’s my story.”

Stone also claimed that Verhoeven had asked her to remove her white underwear while filming as it was “reflecting the light”. She also wrote that the director hadn’t told her that the full-frontal shot would be used in the movie.

When she saw the scene at a test screening, she claimed she “went to the projection booth, slapped Paul across the face, left, went to my car, and called my lawyer.”

Verhoeven has now called Stone’s claims “nonsense”, adding, “She didn’t slap me at all.”

Verhoeven is currently at the Cannes Film Festival with a period drama about a lesbian nun experiencing strange, erotic visions.