Russell Crowe Rejects Brunei Boycott

The New York Post reports that the Sultan-owned Beverly Hotel is now a ghost town and hundreds of workers have been taken off the schedule

“Business really began dropping off six weeks ago,” one employee told me. “We knew it was coming. But then it exploded with the celebrity boycott.” Much of the 650-person staff has been told to stay home, he said. There is now a hiring freeze, and workers who were on the verge of promotions have been stalled. The cancellation of high-profile events — such as the Children’s Defense Fund gala hosted by J.J. Abrams, the Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment breakfast, and the Motion Picture and Television Fund’s Night Before the Oscars party, among others — has already cost the establishment nearly $2 million. “The hotel is going to pay $95,000 in total to the people who would have worked at those events,” the employee told me. “Others have ­essentially been laid off.”

The above-linked writer notes that the Sultan of Brunei is worth over $20B and his hotels "could sit empty for years and he wouldn't notice."

LOS ANGELES: Stars And Activists Protest Brunei's Brutal Sharia Laws

The top clip features a rousing speech by Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lori Jean.

HRC: Boycott Brunei's Hotels

"There are a number of hotels and venues in the Los Angeles area that aren’t owned by foreign leaders and governments that allow for the execution of its LGBT citizens. We’re encouraging members of the LGBT community and our allies to consider those options instead of the Beverly Hills Hotel and the Hotel Bel-Air––which are part of the Sultan’s Dorchester Collection. In addition, we’re calling on organizations that have upcoming events scheduled at these hotels to move them to other locations. I have attended various events at both hotels over the past several years. But given the extreme nature of these developments, I feel strongly that we in the LGBT community and our allies should take our business elsewhere." - Chad Griffin, head of the Human Rights Campaign.

RELATED: The Feminist Majority Foundation will stage a protest outside the Beverly Hills Hotel on Monday. The event is being organized by Mavis Leno, the wife of former Tonight Show host Jay Leno.

BRUNEI: Sharia Laws Begin Tomorrow

The first stage of Brunei's brutal set of Sharia laws goes into effect tomorrow. The third and final stage, which calls for death by stoning for committing homosexual acts, goes into effect in 2015.

The move - delayed from last week - came from the Sultan. "Today... I place my faith in and am grateful to Allah the almighty to announce that tomorrow, Thursday 1 May 2014, will see the enforcement of Sharia law phase one, to be followed by the other phases," AFP news agency quoted him as saying. The penal code will be introduced over three years, with offences in the first phase covered by fines and prison sentences, the Brunei Times reported. Amputations come under the second phase, and stoning, for crimes including adultery and homosexual acts, under the third phase. When he announced it last year the Sultan, 67, one of the world's wealthiest men, called the code "a part of the great history of our nation".

The Human Rights Campaign reacts:

“LGBT citizens in many countries around the world remain persistent targets of harassment, arrest, violence, and torture for simply being who they are,” said Ty Cobb, director of Global Engagement at the Human Rights Campaign. “The decision by the government of Brunei to soon become the 8th nation to allow the death penalty against LGBT people is horrific and sickening.”

The sultan of Brunei, who assumed the throne 47 years ago, is worth an estimated $20B and lives in an 1800-room palace. With a population of only 400K, Brunei has the sixth-highest standard of living in the world due to its immense oil reserves.

RELATED: A boycott of the sultan's luxury hotels around the world is underway.

LGBT Donor Conference Moved From Hotel Owned By Brunei Over Stoning Law

The Gill Action Fund has moved a conference planned for next month out of the tony Beverly Hills Hotel over Brunei's institution of death by stoning for homosexuality. The hotel is owned by the sultan of Brunei. The Washington Blade reports:

Kirk Fordham, executive director of Gill Action, informed the Blade that a new venue would be chosen in the aftermath of the announcement from the sultan of Brunei. “In light of the horrific anti-gay policy approved by the Government of Brunei, Gill Action made the decision earlier today to relocate its conference from the Beverly Hills Hotel to another property,” Fordham said. “We are seeking a return of all deposits.“ Even before the latest policy announcement, Brunei had a law on the books unfavorable to gay people. Homosexual acts were punishable with up to 10 years in prison. LGBT activists have previously targeted the Beverly Hills Hotel for its connections to Brunei and its anti-gay policy. Last year, the group Dump the Beverly Hills Hotel posted a quirky online video where individuals announced they were “breaking up” with the hotel unless its owners changed their homophobic ways. Fordham didn’t immediately respond to a follow-up email asking why the Beverly Hills Hotel was chosen for OutGiving in the first place given the anti-gay policies of Brunei prior to the latest announcement and the criticism to which the hotel has been subjected.

The sultan owns ten luxury hotels around the world. The only other US location is the Hotel Bel-Air, also in Los Angeles.

RELATED: On Tuesday the United Nations denounced Brunei for the latest Sharia laws, which are due to go into effect next week.

United Nations Condemns Brunei For Death By Stoning Sharia Laws

Next week Brunei will institute a set of brutal Sharia laws that demand death by stoning for homosexual acts, adultery, rape, murder, and for declaring oneself to be a non-Muslim.  The United Nations today condemned the coming laws.

“Application of the death penalty for such a broad range of offenses contravenes international law,” said Rupert Colville, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). Rape, adultery, sodomy, extramarital sexual relations for Muslims, insulting any verses of the Quran and Hadith, blasphemy, declaring oneself a prophet or non-Muslim, and murder are the other offences for which the death penalty could be applied under the revised code. Noting that Brunei has maintained an effective moratorium on the use of the death penalty since 1957, OHCHR urged the government to establish a formal moratorium and to work towards abolishing the practice altogether. “Under international law, stoning people to death constitutes torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and is thus clearly prohibited,” Mr Colville stated.

Brunei gained independence from Britain in 1984. With a population of just over 400K, last year the International Monetary Fund ranked Brunei as the fifth-wealthiest nation in the world based on GDP per capita. The United States ranked sixth.