The Beverly Hills Hotel is at the center of protests this week as prominent figures such as Jay Leno and Ellen DeGeneres lead a celebrity boycott against its current owner Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei, over anti-gay legislation recently signed into law. 

The hotel has been a favorite spot for Hollywood stars since it opened back in 1912. However, many celebrities are now coming together to protest the smal country's harsh new Sharia criminal law, which severely punishes same-sex relationships, as well as adultery and abortions. Whoever disobeys the regulation faces punishments such as flogging, stoning and amputation.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund is one of the latest groups to join a growing list of organizations and individuals refusing to do any business with the hotels either owned by the Sultan or the government of Brunei. "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 directors of the MPTF said in a statement, the New York Daily News reported. They added that the MPTF would no longer hold its prestigious annual "Night Before the Oscars" party at the hotel, which has usually taken place in March for many years.

Comedians DeGeneres and Leno have been among those advocating boycotting the hotel and protesting against its owner and the state's ruler, while Mavis Leno, co-chair of the Global Women's Rights Awards with her husband, is claiming that the new penalties "violate international law and have no place in civilized society," according to The Huffington Post. 

In addition, the City of Beverly Hills has voted to pressure the government of Brunei into selling the properties owned in the U.S., including the Beverly Hills Hotel.