George Clooney calls for boycott of Brunei-owned luxury hotels in protest of country's new anti-LGBT+ laws

George Clooney has called for a boycott of the nine luxury hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei in protest at strict new anti-gay laws that have been internationally condemned.

Writing in a column for Deadline, a film news site, the actor called on the public to stay away from the Dorchester Collection hotels, which are owned by the Brunei Investment Agency.

The hotel group includes some of the world’s most luxurious properties, including the Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, the Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles and Le Meurice in Paris.

From next Wednesday, the tiny Muslim nation in southeast Asia will impose the death penalty for those found engaging in same-sex intercourse.

Homosexuality was already illegal and carried a long jail sentence in Brunei. However, the country is in the process of introducing a sharia law-style system for criminal punishment.

Human rights groups have denounced the move, including Amnesty International, which described the new punishments as “heinous” and “inhumane”. It said same-sex relations would become a capital offence that could be carried out by whipping or stoning.

In his column, Clooney wrote: “On this particular 3 April 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.”

He went on to say that while Brunei isn’t a “significant” country, with a population of fewer than 500,000, it was rich.

“At the head of it all is the Sultan of Brunei who is one of the richest men in the world. The Big Kahuna. He owns the Brunei Investment Agency and they in turn own some pretty spectacular hotels.”

In 2014, stars including Ellen DeGeneres and Stephen Fry called for a boycott of the Dorchester Collection hotels, and long-held events due to take place at the hotels were cancelled in protest at the nation’s implementation of anti-gay laws.

Recognising the previous boycott, Clooney continued: “But 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. And the Brunei Investment Agency counts on that. They own nine of the most exclusive hotels in the world. Full disclosure: I’ve stayed at many of them, a couple of them recently, because I hadn’t done my homework and didn’t know who owned them.

“They’re nice hotels. 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.”

He added that the proposed boycott would have “little effect” in changing these laws.

“But are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations? 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.”

The nine luxury hotels in the Dorchester Collection are The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London; The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; Plaza Athénée and Hotel Meurice in Paris; Principe di Savoia in Milan; Coworth Park in Ascot; and Rome’s Hotel Eden.

The Dorchester Collection told The Independent: “Dorchester Collection’s Code emphasises equality, respect and integrity in all areas of our operation, and strongly values people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees. Inclusion and diversity remain core beliefs as we do not tolerate any form of discrimination.”