The Beverly Hills Hotel has been an LA landmark since 1912, becoming a popular haunt for generations of movie stars. In recent years the hotel has been owned by the Sultan Of Brunei, something that has largely gone unremarked.

That’s changing though as the Washington Blade reports that the political organisation, The Gill Action Fund, which was founded by entrepreneur and activist Tim Gill to advocate for LGBT equality, has cancelled a conference for political donors that was due to take place there from May 1st-4th.

The reason they backed away from the venue is that in the past couple of weeks the Sultan approved a law that includes gay sex on a list of sexual offences for which Muslims (and only Muslims) can to be stoned to death in Brunei.

The Gill Action Fund’s Kirk Fordham says, “In light of the horrific anti-gay policy approved by the government of Brunei, Gill Action made the decision earlier today to relocate its conference from the Beverly Hills Hotel to another property.”

The hotel responded, via THR, saying that they, “Do not tolerate any form of discrimination of any kind. We are also against any law in any other country around the world that punishes people for their religious beliefs, ethnicity, race or sexual orientation. The laws and policies that govern how we run our hotel have nothing to do with the laws that exist in any other country outside of the United States. We do not tolerate any form of discrimination and strongly value people and cultural diversity amongst our guests and employees.”

However they failed to specifically address the fact the Sultan owns most of the hotel and therefore him and his country profit from events that happen there. The Beverly Hills Hotel is part of the Dorchester Collection, which is headquartered in London but controlled by the Brunei Investment Agency on behalf of the Sultan. The group also includes The Dorchester and 45 Park Lane in London, The Beverly Hills Hotel and Hotel Bel-Air in LA, the Plaza Athénée and Hotel Meurice in Paris and the Le Richemond in Geneva.

The UN has said Brunei’s extension of offences for which capital punishment is possible contravenes international human rights law. The new penal code goes into effect on April 22nd, with the only bright spot being that while capital punishment has always been on the books for some crimes in the country, it’s believed no one has been executed there since 1957.

For the last couple of years the Oscars has had a lot of help from producers Craig Zadan & Neil Meron, the openly gay duo who before taking on the Academy Awards job produced movies like Hairspray and Chicago, as well as putting on Broadway shows such as the successful restaging of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.

Their mix of stage and screen success has been a big boon for the Oscars, as while hosts Seth MacFarlane and Ellen Degeneres both attracted some criticism, they succeeded in growing the TV audience from previous years.

Now it’s been confirmed that Zadan and Meron will be back for the next ceremony, due to take place February 22nd, 2015.

Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs made the announcement, saying, “Their showmanship has elevated the show to new heights and we are excited to keep the momentum going with this creative partnership,” she said.

Academy CEO Dawn Hudson added, “This year’s show reached viewers of all ages and set social media records, proving that Craig and Neil are masters at tapping into the zeitgeist and capturing the hearts of movie fans around the world.”

Zadan and Meron also released a statement, saying, “We’re proud of the show’s success over the last two years and are eager to embark on another entertaining show to honor this year’s motion pictures.”

This year’s Oscars was the most watched in 14 years, so you can certainly see why Zadan and Meron have been invited back.

As yet there’s no word on a host. Many expect them to try and secure Ellen again, but it’s not known if she’d be willing to return.