John Legend bowed out of LA Confidential’s pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel scheduled for Thursday in protest of owner the Sultan of Brunei’s offenses against women and gay people.
The magazine sent a letter to attendees Wednesday explaining Legend, who appears on the latest issue’s cover, would no longer attend, in his rep’s words, “in light of the horrific antiwomen and anti-LGBT policies approved by the hotel’s owner, the Sultan of Brunei. These policies . . . certainly don’t represent John’s values or the spirit of the event.”
On Tuesday, the Human Rights Campaign sent a letter to the mag asking it to consider moving the party. But publisher Alison Miller and Niche Media CEO Katherine Nicholls defended its decision, saying, “To boycott all companies and hotels with affiliations and ownership from nations that do not share our beliefs would cause serious financial harm and damage to the Los Angeles community and the American economy.”
Miller on Wednesday reconfirmed the event would go on at the hotel: “We respect Mr. Legend’s decision not to attend . . . and believe that each individual, company and organization must make their own decision as to how they communicate their positions on political views, social and civil rights.”