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Comedian Joe Lycett has livestreamed himself ‘shredding £10,000’ after David Beckham failed to pull out of his £10million World Cup deal.
Mr Lycett, 34, is one of the most famous openly pansexual people meaning he is attracted to all genders, and he has openly spoken about being queer and advocated for LGBTQ+ rights.
The comic issued an ultimatum to the former England footballer after it was reported he had signed a £10 million deal with the FIFA World Cup hosts.
The contest kicks off this weekend in Qatar – where homosexuality is still illegal and anyone found participating in same-sex, sexual activity can be punished with up to seven years in prison.
The livestream, which was broadcast on a website set up by Mr Lycett called benderslikeBeckham, showed a woodchipper in the background with two wads of cash in front of it.
Mr Lycett then walked into shot wearing a fluffy rainbow jacket and put each wad of cash into the shredder, before posing in front of the camera and walking out of frame.
Comedian Joe Lycett has livestreamed himself ‘shredding £10,000’ after David Beckham failed to pull out of his £10million World Cup deal
The comic issued an ultimatum to the former England footballer David Beckham after it was reported he had signed a £10 million deal with the FIFA World Cup hosts
Mr Lycett then walked into shot wearing a fluffy rainbow jacket and put each wad of cash into the shredder, before posing in front of the camera and walking out of frame
Birmingham-born comedian Mr Lycett unveiled the deadline last week in a video message posted on social media in which he offered to donate £10,000 of his own money to LGBTQ+ charities if Beckham ended the sponsorship before the tournament started.
If not, Mr Lycett said he would livestream himself shredding the money along with Beckham’s ‘status as gay icon’.
Earlier today the comic began counting down the hours to midday with the tag #benderslikeBeckham and a link to a website he created for the stunt.
The livestream was set up on a website called benderslikeBeckham, in preparation for 12pm. It had more than 13,000 viewers.
On Saturday the comedian tweeted a photograph of what appears to be a stack of cash with the caption ’24 hours to go…’ and #benderslikeBeckham.
This followed a tweet on Friday of an image of a large woodchipper with the caption ’48 hours to go’.
Sharing the video on Twitter on November 13, Mr Lycett said that although Beckham has previously been a vocal supporter of gay rights, he has signed a reported £10 million deal with ‘one of the worst places in the world to be gay.’
Joe Lycett, pictured with the £10,000 of his own money that he said would either be shredded or donated to charity
On November 16, Mr Lycett shared an email sent to Mr Beckham’s PR saying there was only four days to go and urging a response, stressing that he did not want to be forced to shred the money.
The comedian issued an ultimatum to the former England striker: if Beckham ends his relationship with Qatar, he will donated the £10,000 to charities supporting the LGBTQ+ community.
But if that doesn’t happen, he said he will ‘throw the money into a shredder at midday next Sunday, just before the opening ceremony of the World Cup and stream it right here.’
Mr Lycett concluded the video by saying: ‘The choice is yours. Look forward to hearing from you.’
He also shared the link to the new website called ‘benderslikeBeckham’, which contains a countdown of the time left until he will shred the money.
Mr Lycett said during the video: ‘This is a message to David Beckham. I consider you, along with Kim Woodburn and Monty Don, to be a gay icon.
‘You were the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans, and you married a Spice Girl which is the gayest thing a human being can do.
‘But now it’s 2022 and you’ve signed a reported £10 million deal with Qatar to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup.
‘Qatar was voted as the one of the worst places in the world to be gay – homosexuality is illegal, punishable by imprisonment, and if you’re Muslim, possibly even death.
‘You have always talked about the power of football as a force for good. Which suggests to me you have never seen West Brom.
‘But generally I agree – so with that in mind I’m giving you a choice. If you end your relationship with Qatar I will donate ten grand of my own money (that’s a grand for every million you’re reportedly getting) to charities that support queer people in football.
‘However, if you do not I will throw the money into a shredder at midday next Sunday, just before the opening ceremony of the World Cup and stream it right here.
‘Not just the money, but also your status as a gay icon will be shredded.
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‘Also you’ll be forcing me to commit what might be a crime. Although even then, I reckon I’ll get off more lightly than I would if I got caught whacking off a lad in Doha.
Comedian Mr Lycett has begun counting down the hours until he plans to livestream himself shredding £10,000 in cash at midday
The livestream was on the website set up for the stunt, called benderslikeBeckham, in preparation for 12pm
On Saturday the comedian tweeted a photograph of what appears to be a stack of cash with the caption ’24 hours to go…’ and #benderslikeBeckham
‘The choice is yours. I look forward to hearing from you.’
David Beckham previously signed a controversial £10 million deal with Qatar to promote the country ahead of the world cup.
This is despite warnings over human rights abuses and the country’s abysmal record on LGBT+ issues: sex between two men can technically still be punished with the death penalty.
In a recent video released by Qatar, David Beckham met with a 60-year-old woman whose homespun entrepreneurship has made her an icon for progressive women throughout the Middle East.
But this was somewhat overshadowed by the woman’s daughter, who acted as interpreter for the clip, later denouncing homosexuality as ‘against human nature’ as she proclaimed: ‘We are not animals here!’
She told the Daily Mail: ‘That is not acceptable.
‘It [homosexuality] goes against human nature, it goes against science and it goes against our culture! We are not animals here!
‘God has differentiated us from animals. God has created us as men and women.
This follows a tweet on Friday of an image of a large woodchipper with the caption ’48 hours to go’
Sharing the video on Twitter on November 13, Mr Lycett said that although Beckham has previously been a vocal supporter of gay rights , he has signed a reported £10 million deal with ‘one of the worst places in the world to be gay’
On November 16, Mr Lycett shared an email sent to Mr Beckham’s PR saying there was only four days to go and urging a response and stressing that he did not want to be forced to shred the money
‘This only happens because people have been sexually abused (as children) and this has made them afraid.’
LGBT+ football fans have been warned by some organisations to stay away from this year’s world cup amid fears over their safety.
David Beckham has been widely criticised for his deal with Qatar, and has not spoken about the country’s oppressive laws against the LGBT+ community.
It is not the first time David Beckham has come under fire over his contract with Qatar.
An England LGBTQ+ fans’ representative expressed disappointment on Wednesday that David Beckham is a paid ambassador ahead of the World Cup, having previously considered him to be a ‘great ally’ of the community.
Three Lions Pride group members have decided not to travel to the finals which start later this month, amid fears their presence could make the local LGBTQ+ community more vulnerable in a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised.
Mr Lycett even created a new website, ‘benderslikeBeckham’ which he planned to shred the money on
David Beckham, pictured in Qatar, has signed a promotional contract with the country reportedly worth £10 million
Three Lions Pride co-founder Di Cunningham believes players speaking out on LGBTQ+ rights have ‘shown up’ tournament organisers FIFA, but reserved particular criticism for those, like former England captain Beckham, who have been paid to endorse Qatar.
On a webinar hosted by the Sports and Rights Alliance on Wednesday, she said: ‘One of the difficulties we’re having is people taking the money in order to promote Qatar, to promote the World Cup.
‘We’re just so disappointed because the LGBTQ+ community has had David Beckham on a pedestal as a great ally, and then it turns out he’s an ambassador for this World Cup and that’s incredibly disappointing.
‘So I hope the message has got through that people will be criticised for that.’
Mr Lycett, who has previously appeared on numerous television comedy shows and presented the Great British Sewing Bee, has previously been very politically outspoken.
On the first episode of Laura Kuenssberg’s Sunday Programme on the BBC, Mr Lycett was invited on the show and was widely applauded on social media for mocking the Conservative Party and its then-leader, Liz Truss.
