In recent years, besides the glamour, celebrities and red carpet fashion at the Oscars, the show’s ethics have also been put into the spotlight. This year, The Night Before The Oscars, the biggest charity event related to the ceremony, has pulled out of the Beverly Hills Hotel because the venue is owned by the Sultan of Brunei. The event is being held by the Motion Picture And Television Fund, and the decision to stop collaborating with the hotel comes directly from the organization. The charity event does not want to appear to support or endorse the Sultan’s recently instated anti-LGBT penal code, based on Sharia law.

Will Smith, Jada Pinkett-Smith
Supporters of the event include Will and Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Officials from MPTF, have met with executives from both the hotel and the Dorchester Collection, owner of the Beverly Hills Hotel, to inform them of the decision, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Night Before party, which draws Hollywood’s biggest stars and every top executive in town, has been held at the Beverly Hills Hotel since its inauguration in 2003. It was originally started by Dreamworks’ CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and has since raised over $60 million since its beginning. The party is regularly attended and supported by A-list talent – the 2013 committee, for example, included Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck, Camila and Matthew Mcconaughey, Jamie Foxx, Sandra Bullock and Octavia Spencer.

Jamie Foxx
Jamie Foxx is another notable attendee of the charity event.

MPTF’s top executives reportedly issued a statement to THR explaining that they expressed their “deep concern about the recent enactment of laws in Brunei that call for violent punishment, including amputation and death by stoning, against those engaging in same-sex activity and extramarital sexual relations and those committing adultery. We expressed very clearly that we cannot condone or tolerate these harsh and repressive laws and as a result support a business owned by the Sultan of Brunei or a Brunei sovereign fund associated with the government of Brunei.”

Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner
Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner are also regulars at the event.