Comedian Joe Lycett has followed through on his promise to put £10,000 through a shredder after failing to hear back from David Beckham over his support for Qatar hosting this year’s World Cup.
Former Manchester United and England star Beckham has previously been an advocate for LGBTQI+ rights, and Lycett described him as a “gay icon”, thereby questioning his decision to promote Qatar, a country where homosexuality is illegal.
See below as Lycett kept to his word in this video posted to social media, which shows him appearing to put £10k of cash through a machine that shreds it into tiny pieces…
“A platform for progress” pic.twitter.com/EeMelv01nu
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 20, 2022
Despite Lycett’s campaign, Beckham seemingly gave no response, and has instead been quoted by the Daily Record as continuing to support Qatar.
He said: “Qatar dreamed of bringing the World Cup to a place that it had never been before, but that it wouldn’t be enough just to achieve things on the pitch – the pitch would be a platform for progress.
“Dreams can come true. That is why you are here. You share Generation Amazing’s twin passions for the game of football and for making the world a more tolerant and inclusive place.
“Every one of the great players I was lucky enough to play with started exactly the same way. In a back garden, park, or a street outside their home with just a ball and an imagination that they dared to let run wild.
“Almost two decades ago a small group of football lovers from Qatar had an equally fantastic dream: that they could bring the greatest football show on earth to their home country and to the Middle East for the very first time.
“And now we are here. Because when dreams are harnessed and mixed with dedication and hard work, they are no longer dreams. They become reality.”
Beckham has a net worth of $450million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, so it is hard to understand how he could have any particular need to take money from Qatar after the success of his footballing career and his numerous other business ventures.