Joe Lycett has appeared to “shred £10,000” following “radio silence” from David Beckham over his World Cup ultimatum.
Last Sunday (13 November), the comedian released a video on social media in which he directly addressed Beckham about his deal promoting the World Cup in Qatar.
In the video, Lycett said that he would give £10,000 to charities that support gay people in football if Beckham pulls out of his reported £10 million deal over the country’s stance on LGBT+ issues.
If Beckham did not do so, Lycett said, he would shred the £10,000 (£1,000 for every £1m allegedly earned by the former England player) and live stream it this Sunday (20 November) at midday on the website BendersLikeBeckham.com.
While the Birmingham-born comic upped the ante over the last week, sharing an email he sent to Beckham’s publicist and a picture of the shredder he would be using, the footballer did not respond to or even acknowledge Lycett’s challenge.
While Lycett is known for his high profile stunts, from changing his name to Hugo Boss to pretending to be “very right wing”, this one proved to be particularly divisive.
Many people implored Lycett not to destroy the money as the country has just entered a recession and is in a cost-of-living crisis.
However, some argued back that Lycett’s ultimatum to Beckham was only an effective protest if he does actually shred the money.
But despite doubts being cast, Lycett did appear to shred the money as he appeared on the livestream on Sunday.
Lycett had previously warned Beckham, “not just the money, but also your status as gay icon will be shredded”.
“Also you’ll be forcing me to commit what might be a crime,” he said in his original video. “Although even then, I reckon I’ll get off more lightly than I would if I got caught whacking off a lad in Doha.”
