George Clooney spoke with Ellen DeGeneres about his call for a boycott on the Dorchester Hotel group and other businesses that do business with Brunei, which recently backtracked on a death by stoning penalty for gay sex.
“That doesn't matter so much to a rich guy,” said Clooney of the boycotts. “You can't shame bad people. But you can shame the people who do business with them. But when the banks and when the financial institutions started saying ‘we're out of the Brunei business' then [the Sultan of Brunei] backed off. And said put a moratorium on it. It's not fixed yet but it's a huge step forward after this giant leap backward.”
“The reason for this is this is something that is manageable,” Clooney added. “It sends a warning shot over to countries like Indonesia and Malaysia who are also considering these laws. That the business people, the big banks, those guys are going to say don't need to get into that business. That's the reason to do it.”
