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George Clooney is calling for a boycott of luxury hotels owned by Brunei after the country announced new laws which would make gay sex punishable by death.
The laws, which come into force on 3 April, mean anyone found guilty of homosexuality or cheating on their partner could be whipped or stoned.
Brunei’s investment agency owns nine exclusive hotels around the world, including three in the UK and the famed Bel-Air and Beverly Hills hotels in Hollywood.
Oscar-winning actor Clooney wrote in a post on entertainment news website Deadline: “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.
“Brunei is a monarchy and certainly any boycott would have little effect on changing these laws. But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?”
He admitted he had stayed at some of the hotels “recently” but had been unaware of their ownership.
Brunei gained independence from the UK in 1984 and follows strict Sharia law.
The country, headed by the Sultan of Brunei, has also introduced amputation of the hands or feet as punishment for robbery.
Through the Dorchester Collection, it owns Coworth Park in Berkshire as well as London’s The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane.
Hollywood has previously tried to boycott the hotels over Brunei’s treatment of the LGBT community.
The Sultan of Brunei is in charge of the country, which is under Sharia law
When the country announced it would be implementing Sharia law in 2014, activists called for celebrities to stop visiting the hotels and a fundraising event usually held at the Beverly Hills Hotel was cancelled.
However, Clooney said: “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.”
He continued: “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.”
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