London - Anna Wintour has joined the stampede of stars boycotting the Dorchester Collection hotels for their links with the Sultan of Brunei, who has implemented sharia (law) in his country.
The Vogue editor has confirmed that she will not be staying at the Le Meurice, the hotel favoured by the fashion elite and her usual base during Paris Fashion Week.
Wintour release a statement to the New York Times explaining: “While I am sensitive to the potential impact that this issue may have on the wonderful staff at Le Meurice, I cannot in all good conscience stay there, nor can Vogue’s editors.”
The British editor’s decision comes as Condé Nast confirmed that all its magazines have opted to boycott the Dorchester Collection of hotels, which includes The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane, in London, as well as famous retreat Coworth Park, in Windsor.
Stephen Fry was among the first British stars to announce he was joining the campaign, tweeted that he had cancelled his stay at Coworth Park.
In the US, the Beverly Hills Hotel, in Los Angeles, has become a main focus for Hollywood and the fashion industry’s anger after the Sultan of Brunei approved new laws which call for homosexuals and adulterers to be stoned to death.
Chat show hosts Ellen DeGeneres and Jay Leno are among those who have spoken out against the properties, with Sir Richard Branson and Sharon Osbourne also confirming they would be avoiding the hotels.
Members of the fashion industry such as shoe designer Brian Atwood and designer Peter Som have also called for action, as well as François-Henri Pinault, the head of Kering, which owns Gucci, Stella McCartney and Alexander McQueen.
However, not everyone agrees with the action being taken against the hotels.
Hollywood star Russell Crowe has announced that he didn’t support the Hollywood boycott that has crippled business.
The star wrote on Twitter that didn’t agree with the boycott as it hits hard-working staff he considers his “friends”.
Once known as the place to be seen, the hotel has been almost empty in recent weeks thanks to the boycott.
Gladiator star Crowe tweeted his support for workers, saying: “I don’t agree with the boycotting of Dorchester Collection hotels. It only hurts the hard-working staff who I consider friends.”
His message was greeted with support on Twitter, with 102 people retweeting the comment and 274 “favouriting” the tweet.
However, not everyone agreed with the star.
Reality star Kim Kardashian is said to have cancelled her bridal shower at the hotel, while the Motion Picture & Television Fund said it will no longer hold its annual “Night Before the Oscars” party at the hotel.
The fund said it was making a protest at Brunei’s new sharia, which punishes same-sex relationships, as well as adultery and abortions, with flogging and stoning.
‘We cannot condone or tolerate these harsh and repressive laws, and as a result support a business owned by the Sultan of Brunei or a Brunei sovereign fund associated with the government of Brunei,” the fund’s directors said in a statement.
Prominent figures such as comedians Ellen DeGeneres and Jay Leno, and entrepreneur Richard Branson, have been among those to advocate shunning the hotel and its bungalows – a favoured locale for the Hollywood elite since it opened its doors in 1912.
Branson tweeted that no member of his Virgin staff would stay at any Dorchester Collection property “until the Sultan abides by basic human rights”.
Mavis Leno, co-chair of the Global Women’s Rights Awards with husband Jay Leno, said the new penalties “violate international law and have no place in civilised society”.
In an added move, the City of Beverly Hills voted to pressure the government of Brunei into selling the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah has praised his state’s laws as a “great achievement”.
Brunei, a conservative country where alcohol is banned and Muslim courts already govern family affairs, has begun phasing in its version of sharia, which allows for penalties such as amputation for theft and stoning for adultery.
The most severe punishments, flogging, amputation and stoning, are to be introduced in the next two years.
The Dorchester Collection’s chief executive has said that the boycott is misdirected. “American companies across the board are funded by foreign investment, including sovereign wealth funds,” Christopher Cowdray said. – Daily Mail