Joe Lycett has revealed David Beckham will respond to his £10,000 shredding stunt over the FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar, in his Channel 4 show tonight. Beckham, 47, has been publicly slammed for his controversial £10million deal as a Qatar ambassador for the sporting event.
After finding out about the former England captain's role, Lycett, 34, took matters into his own hands. Ahead of the World Cup, the comedian gave Beckham an ultimatum to pull out of his contract with Qatar or he would shred £10,000 on a livestream.
The football icon was previously hailed as a LGBTQ+ icon after becoming the first Premier League footballer to star on the cover of Attitude, a gay magazine, in 2002. Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar, the nation has also been accused of poor treatment of migrants and has an overall poor human rights record, which prompted Lycett's money stunt.
The father of four didn't publicly respond to Lycett's ultimatum over the deal, where he then 'destroyed' the cash on a livestream before it was revealed the money shredded was fake. The comedian confirmed the £10,000 had already been donated to a series of LGBTQ+ charities.
Lycett has now revealed that Beckham has responded to the viral moment, and it will be featured in his Channel 4 special Got Your Back.
A spokesperson for Beckham has now said: “David has been involved in a number of World Cups and other major international tournaments both as a player and an ambassador and he has 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.”
Ahead of Joe's Channel 4 special, he wrote on Twitter: "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 at 9pm on Channel 4.
"As far as we are aware this is the only statement he or his team have given to any outlet regarding his involvement in Qatar. I have been advised that legally I cannot give my opinion on it, so you’ll have to make up your own minds.
"We also speak to some LGBTQ+ football teams and Dr Nasser Mohamed, the first openly gay Qatari, who Beckham blocked on Instagram. We also reunite some of the cast of Footballers’ Wives lol.
"I’d like to thank the Got Your Back team and the team at Channel 4 for their extraordinary hard work on this project."
Got Your Back airs tonight at 9pm on Channel 4.
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