George Clooney, Sharon Stone, George Takei, and More Call for Boycott of Brunei-Owned Hotels Over Anti LGBT Laws that Result in the Death Penalty

George Clooney, Sharon Stone, George Takei, Elton John, and more called for a boycott of Brunei-owned hotels after the country enacted a new law that would punish adultery and homosexual acts with the death penalty.

According to CNN, the small Islamic nation of Brunei located on the island of Borneo will begin stoning to death individuals found guilty of adultery and homosexual sex acts on April 3rd. ZeroHedge reports these “new laws were announced five years ago with the nation’s adoption of Sharia law.” Over the last fifty-one years, the tiny Islamic island nation has been ruled by the same person, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who acts as the absolute monarch of Brunei. Homosexuality had already been ruled illegal in the country.

The new laws have received significant pushback from Hollywood elites. Former Batman actor George Clooney is spearheading a boycott effort against the island nation. Clooney wrote an op-ed in Deadline calling for a boycott of nine luxury hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency. Those hotels include:

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

Not only is Clooney calling for a boycott of the hotels, but he also wants to “shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.” In fact, Clooney is quite clear that he thinks a boycott of the hotels won’t work because they’ve done it before.

“But like all good intentions when the white heat of outrage moves on to the hundred other reasons to be outraged, the focus dies down and slowly these hotels get back to the business of business. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that.”

In fact, Clooney admits he’s stayed in these hotels recently.

“Full disclosure: I’ve stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them.”

Clooney isn’t alone in calling for the boycott. Musician Elton John called for a boycott and echoed Clooney’s sentiments.

Elton John and Clooney aren’t alone. Actress Sharon Stone, who starred in [easyazon_link identifier=”B07MR1VKGB” locale=”US” tag=”boundingintocomics-20″]Total Recall[/easyazon_link], also took to Twitter to decry the actions of the hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency. She specifically singled out two of the California based hotels, the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air:

Halloween star Jamie Curtis also stood by George Clooney, calling him a good man for doing the right thing. She called the new law both unjust and barbaric and also supports the boycotts of the hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

Others have also made it clear they support Clooney and Elton John.

Rachel Chhoa-Howard of Amnesty International also condemned the new enforcement measures:

“Brunei must immediately halt its plans to implement these vicious punishments, and revise its Penal Code in compliance with its human rights obligations. The international community must urgently condemn Brunei’s move to put these cruel penalties into practice.”

But Brunei isn’t the only nation that invokes the state to kill those in the LGBT community. ZeroHedge reports there are 11 other countries including Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. In fact, they point to Kingom Hotel Investments that is owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed. The hotel company owns nearly 50% of the Four Seasons hotel chain.

The Washington Post reported back in 2016 that Afghanistan, Iran, Nigeria, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, Mauritania, and the United Arab Emirates all have laws that punish homosexual acts by death. There are also 65 countries where homosexual acts are illegal, which include India, Pakistan, and Chad.

What do you make of Clooney’s call for a boycott of Brunei? Do you think it will make a significant change? Do you think they will extend their boycott to the Four Seasons?

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