Joe Lycett responds to David Beckham’s money-shredding stunt statement

Comedian previously said he’d been legally advised against giving his opinion on Beckham’s statement

Joe Lycett has responded in shock to David Beckham’s statement about his money-shredding stunt.

On 13 November, the comedian said he would shred £10,000 of his own money as well as Beckham’s status as “a gay icon” if the former British footballer didn’t pull out of his World Cup ambassador contract with Qatar.

After no public response from Beckham, Lycett went on to destroy the money on a livestream. He later revealed that the money was fake and he had actually donated it to LGBT+ charities.

More than a month later, on 15 December, Lycett informed his Twitter followers that Beckham had finally responded to the situation.

Lycett wrote: “David Beckham’s team have issued my programme with an exclusive statement, which will be broadcast tonight as part of my Got Your Back special.

“I have been advised that legally I cannot give my opinion on it,” he said, “so you’ll have to make up your own minds.”

However, following the show’s broadcast, in an email to The New York Times, Lycett wrote he was shocked by Beckham’s statement’s “absence of even mentioning LGBTQ+ people”, and its choice of the word “debate”.

Screenshot taken from the Twitter feed @joelycett of comedian Joe Lycett appearing to shred £10,000 of his own money after he presented David Beckham with an ultimatum to pull out of his role as a Qatar ambassador or he would destroy the cash (Joe Lycett) (PA Media)

The Independent contacted Beckham’s representative, who declined to comment.

Beckham’s statement read: “David has been involved in a number of World Cups and other major international tournaments both as a player and an ambassador and he’s always believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world.

“Football, the most popular sport globally, has a genuine ability to bring people together and make a real contribution to communities.

“We understand that there are different and strongly held views about engagement in the Middle East but see it as positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated directly by the first World Cup being held in the region.

“We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people and that progress will be achieved.”

Since Fifa announced Qatar would host the 2022 World Cup, there has been an enormous backlash due to Qatar’s history with human rights abuses, mainly in regard to migrant workers and the LGBTQ+ community.

As a result, many singers, including Dua Lipa, Shakira and Rod Stewart, refused their attendance to perform.

The final match between France and Argentina will take place on Sunday (18 December). Follow along here for real-time updates.