Joe Lycett reveals the truth about him shredding £10k

Comedian highlighted David Beckham's gay rights hypocrisy over Qatar World Cup

Joe Lycett has revealed that he DIDN’T shred £10,000 in cash in protest at David Beckham’s lucrative World Cup deal to promote Qatar.

Twenty-four hours after apparently feeding the banknotes into a woodchip machine, he revealed that it was just an illusion – and that he had actually donated the money to LGBTQ charities.

But he achieved his aim of drumming up publicity for the football ace’s silence on the Gulf state’s repressive dismal record on gay rights.

He had challenged Beckham – who is being paid a reported £10million to £15million a year for a decade to ‘sportswash’ the regime’s reputation – to speak up to save the cash from destruction.

But the sports star never did, and yesterday Lycett livestreamed himself apparently feeding the money into the shredder. It took just seven seconds, and the comedian said nothing, just looked glum and shrugged at the camera.

However today Lycett has issued a video statement explaining what really happened.

He said: ‘This is my final message to David Beckham. It's me that prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis.

‘So where were we? I told you I was going to 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? 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.

‘I would never destroy real money. I would never be so irresponsible. In fact, the ten grand had already been donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even press 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 bullshit from the start. 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 magazine with a Premier League footballer on it. I asked Attitude if I could read it and they were more than happy to oblige.

He concluded: ‘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…’

pic.twitter.com/YuPYSQ2M6u
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 21, 2022

Speaking to Richard Herring on his Leicester Square Theatre podcast this week, Lycett explained more about the stunt.

He said: ‘I think there's good in him…. I think there's a chance he will change his mind. I think it's a low chance, but I think there's a chance he'll do the right thing. And if he does, if even if he just makes a nod to saying something about the rights of [LGBT+ people]…

‘He’s not done any of that. He’s not said anything publicly at all about it, that will have an effect because he's so influential, he's so regarded.

‘To get it in the press, to bring pressure, I had to do something bold. And the money has really captured people. And it's a talking point, people have been talking about it. There's something about destroying money…

‘I appreciate what I'm going to do is bold and will piss a lot of people off. But I'm I'm at that point now where I'm, I'm so angry about it. I don't care.’

Here's how it all started: