Published on Thursday, April 4, 2019

Beverly Hills hotel owner shuts down social media after Brunei abuse

Embattled hotel chain Dorchester Collection has disabled all of its social media accounts amid a torrent of online abuse.

The operator of the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air has suspended social media pages to protect its employees from 'personal abuse' ir says.

Dorchester Collection owner, Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah enacted the most hardline sharia laws yet in the country, implementing the death penalty by stoning for adultery and homosexuality.

A celebrity-led boycott of the hotels has been gaining traction in Hollywood with Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John and Sharon Stone backing George Clooney's call to stay away from the hotels.

Both the Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air are popular celebrity hangouts and often host A-list events for the Hollywood set. Some planned events have already been moved to other hotels.

The Dorchester Collection maintains its stance as an 'inclusive and diverse company' but deactivated its social media pages to protect workers from personal abuse.

A hotel boycott will not likely affect the Sultan's wealth too much.

Oil and gas-rich Brunei Darussalam is one of the top five richest countries in the world, despite only having a population of about 500,000.

However, an international backlash is already gathering steam and it spells disaster for its recently rebooted focus on attracting more foreign tourists.

Ads have been pulled and interline agreements with Royal Brunei Airlines have already been shelved.

Three years ago the Brunei government made the public celebrating of Christmas a crime with up to five years in prison for offenders.

About 20% of Brunei's population are non-Muslims.