George Clooney has called for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by the ruler of Brunei over the country’s new law that will make gay sex and adultery punishable by death.
George Clooney writes in an open letter to Deadline Thursday, “On this particular April 3rd the nation of Brunei will begin stoning and whipping to death any of its citizens that are proved to be gay, Let that sink in. In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism, this stands alone.”
The country adopted Sharia law late last year and said that it would begin to enforce many harsh punishments, including stoning and amputation, for certain offences. Homosexuality is already punishable by up to 10 years in prison in Brunei.
In his letter, Clooney talks about the immense wealth of the oil-rich country and speaks of the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah, who he says owns some truly magnificent hotels across the world including the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, all under the Brunei Investment Agency banner.
He goes on to say, “The people who work there are kind and helpful and have no part in the ownership of these properties., “But 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 57-year-old human rights advocate attested to the following, “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.”
