June 24, 2014
Kim Kardashian Criticizes Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott
Jason St. Amand READ TIME: 2 MIN.
Kim Kardashian may have gotten herself in hot water with her gay fans this week after she criticized the boycott on the Beverly Hills Hotel in a blog post Monday, saying the boycott aimed at the Sultan of Brunei would not hurt him financially.
The boycott came after the Southeast Asian country enacted sharia law in April. The law has a number of punishments, including being stoned to death if individuals are found to have committed homosexual acts.
A number of celebrities have boycotted the famous Los Angeles hotel, which is owned by Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, after news hit of the anti-gay laws. Ellen DeGeneres, Richard Branson, Jay Leno and others have called for the ban on the hotel. Even Kardashian, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, initially supported the boycott by taking her bridal shower from the hotel. But in a new blog post, the reality star feels like the boycott isn't going to accomplish much of anything.
Kardashian wrote:
For a sultan that has 20 billion dollars, this loss of business doesn't even make a dent in his fortunes. But the hotel staff are being negatively affected every day with the boycott that has gone on for weeks now... We shouldn't punish the amazing hard-working people who have been so good to us for years! ...There must be other ways to express our views without punishing the workers, some who I know personally have families at home and depend on the city's business and tips to survive...I support Rose McGowan and Russell Crowe's takes on this matter. The unjust treatment and violation of rights of the LGBT community around the world is never justified and I will continue to proudly support the LGBT community in every way imaginable. I do believe though that instead of this boycott, there has to be another solution. I'm glad to hear that industry executives like Jeffrey Katzenberg and Casey Wasserman are reaching out to leaders of the hotel chain to discuss a way to potentially end the protest.
You can read the full blog post here.
