Clooney Calls for Boycott of 2 Luxury Hotels in US

The news was jarring: The small nation of Brunei plans to start stoning to death people who have gay sex or commit adultery. Now, George Clooney hopes to inflict some economic pain in the hope of getting sultan Hassanal Bolkiah to rescind the Sharia law punishments, reports the BBC. In an op-ed at Deadline, the actor is calling for the boycott of nine luxury hotels around the world owned by the Brunei Investment Agency. Two are in the US—the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles.

"In the onslaught of news where we see the world backsliding into authoritarianism this stands alone," Clooney wrote of the new laws, scheduled to take effect next week. He acknowledged that a boycott might not get the nation to backtrack, "but are we really going to help pay for these human rights violations?" The other hotels are the Dorchester, 45 Park Lane Hotel, and Coworth Park in the UK; Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan. (More George Clooney stories.)