May 29 (Bloomberg) -- LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world's largest luxury-goods maker, urged its model Sharon Stone to clarify remarks suggesting a May 12 earthquake may have been ``karma'' for China's policies on Tibet.

``If there is a possibility of putting things in the right perspective, coming from the heart, I think that is the best thing to do,'' Group Managing Director Antonio Belloni said at a luxury-goods conference in Tokyo today. The comments from Stone, who appears in advertisements for LVMH's Christian Dior cosmetics and perfumes, were ``unfortunate,'' he added.

``If she doesn't agree, I think we have to acknowledge she doesn't agree and detach us from her,'' Belloni said. Stone has apologized, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The 50-year-old actress's comments about China's deadliest earthquake in 32 years are the latest setback for Paris-based LVMH as it seeks to expand sales in the world's fastest-growing major economy. It follows calls last month on Chinese Internet blogs for boycotts of products made by French companies to protest disruptions to the Olympic torch relay in Paris.

Christian Dior SA owns a controlling stake in LVMH as well as the fashion house Christian Dior Couture, which uses Stone for advertisements. LVMH is removing Chinese advertisements featuring the actress's image, company spokesman Olivier Labesse said in a telephone interview from Paris.

Understanding and Friendship

``I have noted her remarks and I've noticed that today she has apologized through her agent,'' Qin Gang, China's foreign ministry spokesman, said at a briefing in Beijing today. ``Artists should do more to help improve mutual understanding and friendship between countries.''

``I hope that the earthquake relief efforts by the Chinese people and the government can be fully understood and supported by the international community,'' Qin said.

Stone said she felt ``deeply sorry for my inappropriate words and acts, which have hurt the Chinese people's feelings,'' Xinhua, China's state-run news agency, reported, citing the Chinese text of an apology sent from Dior's Shanghai branch.

The actress expressed her ``deepest condolences and sympathy to the victims of the quake'' and said she was willing to participate in the efforts to help them, a separate, Chinese- language Xinhua report said.

Lucy Xu, a Dior spokeswoman in Asia, didn't respond to e- mailed messages today. Dior officials in Hong Kong were unavailable for comment.

Movies Banned

``We detach ourselves from Sharon Stone's remarks,'' Labesse said. ``We deeply sympathize with the pain of the earthquake's victims and their families.''

The owner of a cinema chain in Hong Kong and mainland China said her movies would be banned from its outlets, Xinhua reported, citing the Beijing Times. The actress has appeared in films from Woody Allen's ``Stardust Memories'' to ``Total Recall.''

Stone, in a recording posted on YouTube of comments made at the Cannes film festival, said: ``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?''

The death toll from the May 12 earthquake has reached 68,109 people with 19,851 missing, State Council Information Office spokesman Lu Guangjin said yesterday. China yesterday began evacuating 80,000 people threatened by floods in Sichuan province as two aftershocks struck the region.

To contact the reporter on the story: Fergus Maguire in Tokyo at fmaguire@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 29, 2008 09:08 EDT