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Social Justice

Joe Lycett says 'shredded' £10,000 in David Beckham stunt was actually donated to LGBTQ+ charities

In a "final message" to the former England captain, Lycett clarified that he did not actually shred £10,000, saying it was an empty threat designed to get people talking

Joe Lycett shreds David Beckham's Attitude magazine cover from 2002 after calling him out over his Qatar World Cup work. Image: Joe Lycett

Comedian Joe Lycett says he did not shred £10,000 in a stunt calling out David Beckham’s work for the Qatar World Cup – but donated it to LGBTQ+ charities instead.

The Birmingham comedian gave the former England captain until midday on Sunday to withdraw his role at the tournament saying if he did so he would donate £10,000 of his own money to charities supporting LGBTQ+ communities. If he didn’t, he would shred it.

After the deadline passed, Lycett tweeted a video appearing to do just that, which caused some controversy as people took issue with the shredding of money during a cost of living crisis.

But the comedian posted another video on Twitter on Monday, clarifying that he didn’t actually shred the cash.

“It’s me, that prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis!” Lycett says to Beckham in the video.

“I haven’t quite told you the 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.

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“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 bullshit from the start.”

Lycett then went on to shred “gay icon” Beckham’s 2002 Attitude cover – the first time a Premier League footballer had appeared on the cover of a gay magazine.

Beckham is being paid a reported £140million for his role as ambassador of the Qatar World Cup.

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