Hollywood star George Clooney has called for a boycott on luxury hotels owned by the sultan of Brunei in response to legislation in the small Asian nation that will make being gay punishable by death.
In a guest column published on the film website Deadline.com on Thursday, Clooney listed the names of nine five-star hotels located in England, France, Italy and California, all owned by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah's Brunei Investment Agency.
Among those hotels is the exclusive Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
"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 Oscar-winning actor wrote.
From April 3, people in Brunei who engage in same-sex activity can be flogged and stoned to death.
Consenting same-sex relations are already punishable by 10 years imprisonment under Brunei's existing penal code.
The sultan is one of the world's richest people.
"I've learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can't shame them," the actor-turned-activist wrote.
"But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way."
This wouldn't be the first boycott targeting the Brunei-owned luxury hotels.
In 2014, Oprah Winfrey and Ellen Degeneres supported such action after the hardline Islamic country cracked down on gay and lesbian behaviour. Several events were cancelled in LA hotels at the time as a result, according to Clooney.
