Clooney boycott of Brunei linked hotels may impact Brisbane hotel
A boycott supported by a growing number of A-list celebrities led by George Clooney may impact a hotel in Brisbane.
The actor turned part-time activist has made a public plea to boycott hotels linked to the Brunei Government after it introduced laws which impose death by stoning for gay sex and adultery.
Clooney was backed by Elton John and Ellen DeGeneres in urging people to avoid the Brunei-owned Dorchester Collection of luxury five-star hotels.
“I’ve learned over years of dealing with murderous regimes that you can’t shame them,” he said. “But you can shame the banks, the financiers and the institutions that do business with them and choose to look the other way.
“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.”
While most of the attention has been turned to hotels in Europe and the US, the Brunei Investment Agency also owns Brisbane’s Royal on the Park Hotel.
However, Elton John has acknowledged that boycotting hotels owned by the Sultanate might affect the earnings of gay employees.
“Our hearts go out to the good, hardworking employees of properties owned by the Sultan of Brunei, many of whom we know to be gay,” he said.
“We must send a message, however we can, that such treatment is unacceptable.”
The nine hotels Clooney is boycotting are:
- The Dorchester, London
- 45 Park Lane, London
- Coworth Park, England
- The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills
- Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles
- Le Meurice, Paris
- Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris
- Hotel Eden, Rome
- Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan
Sheridan Randall, 4th April 2019
