Joe Lycett comes clean on £10k shredding stunt in protest against David Beckham
The latest stunt from Joe Lycett isn't quite what it seems...
By Nick Reilly
Joe Lycett has revealed that the £10,000 he supposedly shredded in protest against David Beckham’s lucrative deal to promote the Qatar World Cup was in fact fake.
The comedian had delivered a tough ultimatum to David Beckham, threatening to shred the cash unless the England icon agreed to step down from being an ambassador to Qatar.
Beckham has faced tough backlash for promoting the event and receiving what is thought to be a fee of millions, given that homosexuality is illegal in the country and thousands of migrant workers have allegedly died while building stadiums for the event.
When Beckham failed to step down, Lycett seemingly came good on his threat – sharing a video of himself apparently throwing large wads of cash into a shredder yesterday lunchtime.
While the stunt proved controversial, Lycett has now confirmed that it was all a hoax, in a bid to draw attention to Beckham’s controversial deal.
“This is my final message to David Beckham, it’s me, that prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis,” he said in a video earlier today (November 21).
“So, where were we? I told you I was gonna destroy £10,000 if you didn’t end your relationship with Qatar before the first day of the world cup, and then when you didn’t end your relationship or even respond in any way, I streamed myself dropping 10k into a shredder, or did I?”
He continued: “I haven’t quite told you the whole truth – the truth is the money that went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out was fake. I would never destroy real money.
“I would never be so irresponsible, in fact, the 10 grand had already been donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even pressed send on the initial tweet last week. I never expected to hear from you, it was an empty threat designed to get people talking. In many ways it was like your deal with Qatar David – total bulls**t from the start.”
Lycett continued: “I’m not even queer! Only joking. There is one thing I’ll shred – this is your Attitude magazine cover from June 2002, the first-ever cover of a gay mag with a Premier league footballer on it.
“I asked Attitude if I could shred it, and they were more than happy to oblige. Gosh, it’s all been quite a lot this hasn’t it? Right, I’m off down the gay village to have a few pints.”
The stunt had previously sparked condemnation from a variety of high profile figures, who criticised Lycett’s apparent shredding of the cash during a cost of living crisis.
England’s first World Cup game against Iran kicks off today at 1PM.