Clive Davis is heartbroken he will no longer see the devoted staff at the Beverly Hills Hotel, who have been taking care of his needs since 1965. But the chief creative officer of Sony Music is boycotting the Pink Palace as long as owner Sultan of Brunei is imposing Shariah law in his home country.
As of May 1, the citizens of the oil-rich sultanate on the island of Borneo face fines and imprisonment for minor crimes, such as failure to pray on Friday. The Sultan’s plan calls for whippings and amputations for more serious crimes like stealing — and death by stoning for adultery and gay sex.
“When I learned of the enactment of the penal code, I realized it would be impossible for me to stay there,” the veteran music mogul told me on Friday.
Davis is distraught he won’t be seeing the “fabulous, terrific” staff at the hotel anymore. “They know I like coleslaw, and dark meat better than white, and oatmeal raisin cookies,” he said. Instead of his regular haunt, the New York-based Davis spent the last week ensconced at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Davis hopes the Sultan sells his hotels as soon as possible, before staffers start getting laid off.
The homophobic Sultan not only owns the Beverly Hills Hotel, he also owns the Bel-Air, the Plaza Athénée in Paris and the Dorchester (another Davis favorite) in London.
Clive’s decision had nothing to do with his own sexuality. Davis revealed in his 2013 autobiography, “The Soundtrack of My Life,” that he is bisexual.
“It’s a humanitarian issue. It’s relevant to everybody, every independent-thinking human being,” Clive said. “It’s about right and wrong.”
Known as the Man With the Golden Ears, Davis used to throw his annual pre-Grammy party at the Beverly Hills Hotel until the bash grew too big and had to be moved. He had many late night meetings there with Whitney Houston as he was turning her into a star.
Jay Leno, Richard Branson and Ellen DeGeneres are also pushing the boycott, and it is working. The normally busy Polo Lounge was reported to be “a ghost town” this week and, as Page Six has reported, several upcoming events have moved, including the Children’s Defense Fund gala chaired by “Star Wars” director J.J. Abrams.