Hollywood star George Clooney is calling for a boycott of hotels (9 in total) owned by the Sultan of Brunei and his Brunei Investment Agency.
This comes after Brunei passed a new penalty law that makes gay sex and adultery punishable by death. Beginning from 3rd April onwards, the LGBTQ community and adulterers can legally be stoned to death.
“Let that sink in,” the Oscar winner wrote in an article for Deadline. “In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone…Let’s be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.”
The 9 aforementioned hotel are:
- The Dorchester, London
- 45 Park Lane, London
- Coworth Park, UK
- The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills
- Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
- Le Meurice, Paris
- Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris
- Hotel Eden, Rome
- Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan
“Full disclosure: I’ve stayed at many of (the hotels), a couple of them recently, because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them,” Clooney wrote. “Are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens? I’ve learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them. But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.”
The 57-year-old actor and filmmaker hopes that by speaking up, more will join him in boycotting the resorts, even though they may be luxurious.
Sources: Indie Wire, Deadline.
