Hassanal Bolkiah, the homophobic Sultan of Brunei, has offered to pay around $2 billion to buy New York's Plaza Hotel, along with Grosvenor House in London and the Dream Hotel in lower Manhattan

Hassanal Bolkiah, the homophobic Sultan of Brunei, has offered to pay around $2 billion to buy New York's Plaza Hotel, along with Grosvenor House in London and the Dream Hotel in lower Manhattan, reports Huffington Post.

Bolkiah has faced severe criticism for Brunei's new penal code which includes death by stoning as a punishment for homosexuality.

A number of celebrities – including Virgin founder and CEO Richard Branson – have protested against the Brunei-owned luxury hotel operator Dorchester Collection following the implementation of the country's anti-gay laws. However, Russell Crowe announced his support for Dorchester, claiming that protests would “throw employees under the bus to make a political point.”

A statement from the hotel chain said that the company continues to “abide by the laws of the countries we operate in and do not tolerate any form of discrimination of any kind.”

However, activist group Human Rights Campaign's Director of Global Engagement Ty Cobb said “the American profit stream that flows from [Bolkiah's] hotels back to his regime needs to stop. We urge all New Yorkers to have one simple and straight-forward message for the Sultan: take your business elsewhere.”

Watch a CBS News report, AFTER THE JUMP…