Ellen DeGeneres & George Clooney want you to boycott these posh hotels

07 April 2019 - 00:00 By Elizabeth Sleith

Hollywood stars including George Clooney and Ellen DeGeneres have called on the public to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, following that nation's passing of homophobic laws that will see any Muslims engaging in gay sex be stoned to death as of April 3.
Last Wednesday it was announced that homosexuality would become a capital offence in the southeast Asian country, where it was already illegal.
In an opinion piece published by the entertainment website Deadline.com the following day, Clooney wrote, "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."
He then called for a boycott of the nine hotels owned by the Brunei Investment Company, which is in turn owned by Brunei's "Big Kahuna", as Clooney called him, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah.
The hotels are the Dorchester and 45 Park Lane, both in London; Coworth Park in Ascot, England; The Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athénée in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.
Clooney admitted that he had stayed at most of the nine hotels before, but added it was "because I hadn't done my homework and didn't know who owned them".
He went on to say, "They're nice hotels ... but every time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these 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."
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On Tuesday, DeGeneres, a notable LGBTQIA rights activist, tweeted, "Tomorrow, the country of #Brunei will start stoning gay people to death. We need to do something now. Please boycott these hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei. Raise your voices now. Spread the word. Rise up."
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