International backlash after the Sultan of Brunei passed the law of stoning gay men having sex

A viral campaign to boycott nine hotels owned by the Sultan started by the Hollywood celebrities reached a peak on Thursday when eight hotels deleted their Twitter profiles.

The image, listing the hotels, calling a boycott was shared all over social media, including celebrities such as George Clooney, Dua Lipa, Ellen DeGeneres, Elton John, Luke Evans, Billie Jean King, and Jamie Lee Curtis.

The Twitter accounts belonging to the following hotels disappeared:

The Dorchester (London)
45 Park Lane (London)
Coworth Park (Ascot, UK)
The Beverly Hills Hotel (Los Angeles)
Hotel Bel-Air (Los Angeles)
Le Meurice (Paris)
Hotel Plaza Athénée (Paris)
Hotel Principe di Savoia (Milan)

The Hotel Eden in Rome, Italy, one of the Sultan's nine hotels remains on Twitter but has a protected account.

The City of Los Angeles Controller Ron Galperin tweeted: "We must not support these establishments when lives are on the line! #Boycott."

I’m outraged & horrified today at the nation of #Brunei's announcement of an #LGBTQ death penalty law. Both the @HotelBelAir and @BevHotel are owned by #BruneiInvestmentAgency & #SultanofBrunei. We must not support these establishments when lives are on the line! #Boycott pic.twitter.com/2EzctpkvMr

— LA Controller Ron Galperin (@LAController) March 29, 2019

Virgin Australia cancelled a deal with Brunei's airline Royal Brunei where Virgin staff got discounted tickets on Royal Brunei flights.

On Friday, Deutsche Bank outlawed staff from staying at any of the hotels owned, listed above, by Brunei.

On Wednesday, Transport for London, which operates the London Underground, said it will no longer show a Brunei tourism advert labelling it "the abode of peace" (the nation's official title.)

Hey @TfL given Brunei just passed laws to whip and/or stone #LGBT people to death “abode to peace” is false advertising. When’s it coming down? #bruneiboycott pic.twitter.com/JidQ1SRcSP

— Vincent McAviney (@VinnyMcAv) April 2, 2019

Transport for London said: "This advert will be removed from our network."

The UK's ruling Conservative Party banned a fundraiser at The Dorchester Hotel, owned by Brunei, on Tuesday.

On Friday, the organisers of the UK's TV Choice Awards, which were due to be held at The Dorchester, owned by Brunei, said they will find a new venue.

The 2019 TV Choice Awards will not be held at The Dorchester Hotel. This year's venue will be announced in due course.

— TV Choice (@TVChoice) April 5, 2019

STA Travel, a large international adventure holiday booking company, tweeted on Friday saying it will no longer arrange flights for customers on Royal Brunei Airlines.

In protest at recent changes to the law in Brunei (also applicable on Brunei-registered aircraft and vessels), we’re proud to announce that STA Travel has stopped selling tickets on Royal Brunei Airlines. #bruneiboycott

— STA Travel UK (@STATravel_UK) April 5, 2019

The UK government's official health and safety organisation, The Health and Safety Executive (HSE,) have made a decision to stop sending staff to Brunei to complete secondments, the Guardian reported.

The state government of Queensland, Australia, has put on hold plans to partner-up with Royal Brunei Airlines, after a petition to ban the airline from Australia gained momentum.

Tourism Industry Development Minister Kate Jones told news.com.au: "We suspended negotiations with Royal Brunei as soon as we learnt about changes to the law, allowing the persecution of Brunei's LGBTIQ community."