ABC/Randy Holmes

ABC/Randy HolmesAfter George Clooney penned an op-ed for Deadline urging people to boycott hotels owned by the Sultan of Brunei, due to a new law passed in the country that would allow LGBTQ people to be stoned to death, Elton John has now added his support to the initiative.

“I commend my friend, #GeorgeClooney, for taking a stand against the anti-gay discrimination and bigotry taking place in the nation of #Brunei – a place where gay people are brutalized, or worse – by boycotting the Sultan’s hotels,” he wrote on Twitter.

“Our hearts go out to the good, hardworking employees of properties owned by the Sultan of Brunei, many of whom we know to be gay,” Elton continued. “We must send a message, however we can, that such treatment is unacceptable. That’s why [my husband] David and I have long refused to stay at these hotels and will continue to do so. We hope you will join us in solidarity.”

Reaction to Elton’s comments wasn’t entirely positive.  One criticized him for “outing” employees at the hotels, while another wrote, “don’t try intervene another country[‘s] rules. Mind your own business.”

In his op-ed, Clooney wrote, “Let’s be clear, every single time we stay at or take meetings at or dine at any of these nine hotels, we are putting money directly into the pockets of men who choose to stone and whip to death their own citizens for being gay or accused of adultery.”

The boycott includes the following hotels: The Dorchester, London; The Beverly Hills Hotel, Beverly Hills; Hotel Bel-Air, Los Angeles; Le Meurice, Paris; Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris; Hotel Eden, Rome;
and Hotel Principe di Savoia, Milan.

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