Comedian Joe Lycett has admitted he did not shred £10,000 in protest against David Beckham’s involvement in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, saying “I would never be so irresponsible”. The comic said he had in fact donated the £10,000 to LGBTQ+ charities, before shredding the cover of Beckham’s 2002 Attitude Magazine.
It has been reported Beckham had signed a controversial £10 million deal with the Fifa World Cup hosts – homosexuality is still illegal in Qatar and anyone found participating in same-sex sexual activity can be punished with up to seven years in prison. Lycett offered to donate £10,000 of his own money to LGBTQ+ charities if Beckham ended the sponsorship before the tournament started, and if not, he said he would livestream himself shredding the money along with Beckham’s “status as gay icon”.
The Birmingham-born comedian appeared to stand by his decision in a video shared on the same day as the opening game of the tournament, but on Monday came clean. “I haven’t quite told you the whole truth, because the truth is the money that went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out was fake,” Lycett said in a video shared on Twitter.
