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  • Sharia Law Prompts Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott

    The Night Before the Oscars, an annual gala held at the Beverly Hills Hotel, may be hosted at a different venue henceforth, due to the Sultan of Brunei’s ownership of the storied inn. The Motion Picture & Television Fund, which holds the annual star-studded pre-Oscar party at the Dorchester Collection property, has cut ties with the establishment, after Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah enacted Sharia law last week in his Southeast Asian country.

    In the Arabic-speaking world, Sharia, also known as Islāmī qānūn, means the moral code and religious law of a prophetic religion. Sharia deals with many of the same topics addressed by secular law, including politics, crime and economics, as well as with personal matters such as sexual intercourse, hygiene, diet, prayer, general etiquette and fasting. Punishments include amputation, flogging and stoning.

    In a statement, MPTF’s top executives expressed their “deep concern about the recent enactment of laws in Brunei that call for violent punishment, including amputation and death by stoning, against those engaging in same-sex activity and extramarital sexual relations and those committing adultery. We expressed very clearly that we cannot condone or tolerate these harsh and repressive laws and as a result support a business owned by the Sultan of Brunei or a Brunei sovereign fund associated with the government of Brunei.”

    The Night Before party, initially conceived by DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, has been held at the Beverly Hills Hotel since 2003, and has raised more than $60 million over the past 12 years. Its 2014 host committee included Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, Camila and Matthew McConaughey, Jamie Foxx, Sandra Bullock and Octavia Spencer.

    On Tuesday, the Beverly Hills City Council is scheduled to consider a resolution regarding the landmark. Beverly Hills Mayor Lili Bosse commented that the boycott “is not in any way a statement against the Beverly Hills Hotel … which is a pillar of our community. It’s about the ownership and its lack of concern for justice and human rights.”

    Other Dorchester Collection properties including the Hotel Bel-Air have also been boycotted due to Bolkiah’s Sharia decree, and Virgin Records chief Richard Branson tweeted that neither his family nor Virgin employees would stay at Dorchester Collection hotels “until the Sultan abides by basic human rights.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Sharia Law Causes Celebrities To Boycott Famed Beverly Hills Hotel

    Ellen DeGeneres and Jay Leno are just two of the famous personalities that are boycotting the Beverly Hills Hotel – a Brunei-owned company.

    On Monday, the Beverly Hills on Sunset Boulevard was bombarded with crowds of protesters calling for people to boycott the hotel. The protest was against Brunei leader, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, who announced last week that he is going to push through with the Sharia law that includes stoning to death and severing limbs of adulterers and gay citizens.

    According to reports, the penalties also apply to Brunei-based citizens who are not Muslim.

    As a result of the announcement, music executive and record producer Clive Davis moved out of the hotel over the weekend. Organizers of large-scale events that were supposed to take place at the hotel also pulled out. Other stars boycotting the hotel include Richard Branson, Stephen Fry, and Sharon Osbourne.

    Lili Bosse, mayor of Beverly Hills, is urging the city to come up with a resolution that condemns Brunei’s new laws. The city will be voting on what measures to take on Tuesday.

    Amidst all the protests, some are concerned about the employees who are working for the hotel and other properties of the Dorchester Collection. Christopher Cowdray, Chief Executive for the Dorchester Collection said that the act of boycotting will hurt employees of the chain.

    A source said that with the lack of celebrities and other well-known personalities in the hotel, there is no need to take on the extra employees.

    U.S. has been discreet about wanting to change the penal code of Brunei, but reports say that the country’s concerns have already been relayed in private to the government of Brunei.

    Sultan Bolkiah’s new law has made Brunei the first country to set the Sharia Law nationally in East and Southeast Asia. Several human rights organizations, and the United Nations office have shown their disapproval of the law.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons