The Sultan of Brunei, a tiny nation that borders Malaysia, has begun imposing Sharia law, which will eventually sentence LGBT people in the country to death by stoning. In addition to targeting LGBT people, a whole host of laws and harsh punishments are being implemented in the country. The Sultan owns several hotels as part of the Dorchester Collection, including LA's Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air. Celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno, Stephen Fry, Sharon Osbourne, Virgin CEO Richard Branson and Dreamworks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg have all announced they will be boycotting hotels owned by the group and several organizations have cancelled or changed venues. CNBC reports:
The introduction of Sharia law in the Brunei continued to ripple to the shores of California on Wednesday as the oil-rich nation's ownership of the iconic Beverly Hills Hotel resulted in business cancellations amounting to at least $1.5 million.
"The impact has been predominately in the local events business where those have been canceled and we're up to probably about $1.5 million so far, but we can weather the storm. We're very, very much larger than that," Dorchester Collection CEO Christopher Cowdray told CNBC.
The Brunei Investment Agency owns the Dorchester Collection of 10 luxury hotels: the Beverly Hills Hotel; the Hotel Bel-Air in Los Angeles; The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London; Coworth Park in Ascot, England; Le Meurice and Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris; Hotel Eden in Rome; Le Richemond in Geneva; and Hotel Principe di Savoia in Milan.
The City Council of Beverly Hills on Tuesday voted to urge the hotel to untangle itself from its connection to Sharia law.