George Clooney is one of the world-renowned personalities who recently spoke up against a new set of policies that many groups and world leaders deemed to be an attack on LGBT rights. For his part, Clooney called for a boycott on several luxury hotels known to be owned by the Sultan of Brunei, Hassanal Bolkiah. Clooney has since gotten the approval of other celebrities including music icon Elton John.
Clooney’s criticism on the Sultan of Brunei and the anti-LGBT policies to be implemented on Wednesday was aired through an op-ed for Deadline. “[Brunei] haven’t had an election since 1962 and have adopted the most extreme version of Sharia law so, not so good for them. At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world,” the 57-year-old actor wrote. “He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they, in turn, own some pretty spectacular hotels.”
In the latter paragraphs of the article, it sounded like George Clooney knew his call to boycott these hotels will also gain criticisms — and it did. To this, the actor admits that boycotting hotels owned by Bolkiah “would have little effect on changing these laws.” On April 3, Brunei criminalizes sexual acts between same-sex partners making it punishable with death by stoning.
However, Clooney also raised interesting questions: “Are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? Are we really going to help fund the murder of innocent citizens?” Hotels identified by Clooney in the article are The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, Coworth Park in the U.K., The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles, Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris, Hotel Eden in Rome, and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.
Elton John, who has been openly gay since the ‘80s, voiced out his support for George Clooney’s boycott calls. “I commend my friend, George Clooney, for taking a stand and calling out the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry now being enshrined in law in the nation of Brunei, a place where gay people are brutalized or worse,” the singer-songwriter said in a statement.