Actor George Clooney has called for a boycott of nine Brunei-owned hotels over the sultanate’s imposition of death penalty for gay sex and adultery.
Brunei will implement the law next week making gay sex and adultery punishable by death.The law also mandates amputation of a hand and foot for theft.
“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,” Clooney wrote in a guest column on the website deadline.com.
“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,” he added.
The nine hotels are located in the US, Britain, France and Italy.
Homosexuality has always been illegal in Brunei, but it will only now become a capital punishment. The law will only apply to Muslims.
Some eminent personalities have criticised the star for the call on boycott.
Bill Maher, American comedian and TV host, referred to Clooney’s effort as, “chickenshit tokenism because, what about Saudi Arabia? If you really want to get back at them, stop driving. Don’t use oil.”
Sarah Elizabeth Cupp, another TV host, political commentator and writer, said she had closely looked at the same kind of critique in Bahrain and the tie to LA luxury hotels when the issue came up in 2014. “It’s totally hypocritical,” she said. “It’s also the United Arab Emirates, where Hollywood does a ton of business.”
Clooney apart from his successful career in Hollywood is known for political activism across the globe, especially for his campaigns that draw attention to the conflict in Sudan’s Darfur region.