Looks like west coast magazine Los Angeles Confidential will be without a headliner at its pre-Grammy bash.
The magazine’s December cover star, John Legend, was scheduled to perform at a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel on Thursday evening. However, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that the “Glory” singer backed out due to hotel owner and Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah’s archaic female and LGBTQ policies.
“These policies, which among other things could permit women and LGBT Bruneians to be stoned to death, are heinous and certainly don’t represent John’s values or the spirit of the event,” Legend’s rep Amanda Silverman told the Reporter. “John does not, in any way, wish to further enrich the Sultan while he continues to enforce these brutal laws.”
Civil rights organization Human Rights Campaign wrote a letter to Los Angeles Confidential, chiding them for their decision to host the party at the hotel. However, the magazine denied that their involvement with the hotel suggest that it supports Bolkiah’s policies.
“Los Angeles Confidential Magazine is an avid supporter of equal rights of all people,” publisher Alison Miller said in a statement.
However, there’s no telling how Legend’s absence will affect the star-studded guest list (expected attendees include Common, Ava DuVernay and Keke Palmer). Celebs and Hollywood execs have boycotted the hotel for months, since Bokliah passed the Brunei law. The HRC urged the magazine to find another venue, but in the days preceding the Grammy’s, that’s easier said than done.