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| Bar at the Polo Lounge, Beverly Hills Hotel |
The former power spot is a ghost town amid ballooning backlash of its Sharia law-endorsing owner, the Sultan of Brunei.
On any ordinary weekday, every table at the Beverly Hills Hotel’s iconic Polo Lounge is filled to capacity with industry movers and shakers like Steven Spielberg, Ari Emanuel and Jeffrey Katzenberg, all regulars at the 73-year-old power spot.
But these days, the room is a ghost town.
Caught in the middle of the ballooning Beverly Hills Hotel boycott -- a direct response to a decision by its owner, the Sultan of Brunei, to institute Sharia law in his country, which calls for the stoning to death of gays and adulterers -- a Hollywood Reporter field trip on Wednesday for the midday meal found 1 p.m. to be as busy as 1 a.m.
STORY: Beverly Hills Hotel Boycott: The Economic Fallout
Major philanthropic events like the Motion Picture & Television Fund’s Night Before the Oscars party, a luncheon for the Carousel of Hope Benefit, the J.J. Abrams-chaired Children’s Defense Fund gala and THR's own Women in Entertainment breakfast have already canceled bookings at the storied Pink Palace. Now, it seems, the mass shunning extends to the property's loyal power-lunching ranks.
Two hours earlier, an anonymous reservation call was placed, and a gracious female voice on the other end fielded the request for a highly sought-after booth for two. What would typically yield a "Sorry, we're booked" instead earned a cheerful "We'll do our absolute best!" For the eatery ranked No. 2 on THR’s 2014 Power Lunch survey, this did not bode well.
At a little past 1 p.m., these reporters' beat-up Japanese SUV pulled past rows of parked Maybachs, Aston Martins and Bentleys and was swiftly whisked off by one of the hotel's famously overworked valets, who on this day sat idle.
Read the full story: www.hollywoodreporter.com
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