US actress Sharon Stone has released a statement through her agency apologizing for saying the earthquake that struck China may have been the result of bad karma, media reported yesterday.

"Due to my inappropriate words and acts during the interview, I feel deeply sorry and sad about hurting Chinese people," Stone said in the statement. "I am willing to take part in the relief work of China's earthquake, and wholly devote myself to helping affected Chinese people."

The 50-year-old "Basic Instinct" star reportedly made the comments while speaking to a Hong Kong TV channel on the sidelines of the Cannes film festival last week.

When asked about her feelings for the earthquake, the actress said: "You know it was very interesting because first, you know I'm unhappy about the way the Chinese treating the Tibetan because I think anyone should not be unkind to anyone else...I've been concerned about how should we deal with the Olympics, because they are not being nice to the Dalai Lama, who is a good friend of mine." "And then all this earthquake and all this stuff happened, and I thought, is that karma -- when you're not nice that the bad things happen to you?"

Ng See-Yuen, founder of the UME Cineplex, one of China's largest cinema chains, and chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Filmmakers, said he objected to the comments and pledged his company would not show Stone's films, according to a report in The Hollywood Reporter.

Ng described Stone's comments as "inappropriate" and said actors should not bring personal politics to comments involving a humanitarian disaster, according to the Reporter.

Stone's karma remark has sparked a storm of criticism and condemnation among Chinese netizens.

"I want her to say sorry. It's not for me. It's for the dead people," said a young man, who described himself as a Chinese called Adam.

Sam Teng, a netizen of CCTV.com from Malaysia, is also shocked, and said the actress has a heart as cold as stone:

"I am utterly shocked and furious to hear the disgusting remarks by Sharon Stone that the earthquake in Sichuan, China is a "karma." At the time when millions of people are displaced, about 60,000 people killed and about another 20,000 people missing due to the earthquake, the Chinese people all over the world including many foreign sympathizers are greatly saddened. The survivors are still struggling for a safer place to live in view of the coming rain and risks of floods. As such, I find Sharon Stone's remark insensitive and inhumane. Where is your sympathy? "

Stone, model for French fashion house Christian Dior, would no longer appear in the company's advertisements in China, according to a public relations manager for Dior in Shanghai.

The May 12 earthquake, which struck in southwest China's Sichuan province, is the nation's worst natural disaster in a generation and has killed at least 68,500.