Joe Lycett has revealed David Beckham’s team got in touch with him after a stunt in which he pretended to shred £10,000.
The comedian pretended to destroy the money in protest against the footballer’s involvement in Qatar’s World Cup, thanks to the country’s harsh laws against homosexuality and other human rights abuses.
Lycett had urged Beckham to back out of a reported multi-million pound deal with Qatar, and when he didn’t respond, posted a video of himself shredding the money – but went on to explain the money coming out of the shredder was fake and he had donated the sum to LGBTQ+ charities.
Beckham had not appeared to react to the stunt and has not made any form of public statement following the headline-grabbing protest by Lycett.
Now however, the comedian claims the England star’s team has been in touch – but apparently want the story to ‘go away.’
Speaking to podcast The News Agent with Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel, he said: ‘I’ve not heard directly from Beckham. We have had some movement with his people.
‘Basically, we’ve had some contact with them… but basically, legally at the minute, I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say.’
He added that he was ‘not satisfied with where we’ve got to, let’s put it that way.’
When pressed by host Maitlis whether the team were offering money or donations to LGBTQ+ charities, Lycett claimed there was ‘none of that.’
‘They’re not offering anything really. They’re just talking to us a little bit,’ he said.
‘I think they’re just trying to get it to go away really. Which it will eventually, and it won’t affect him long term.’
Following the revelation that the money coming out of the shredder was fake, Lycett confirmed he had in fact donated the sum to Stonewall UK’s Rainbow Laces campaign and the Sport Allies charity.
He came clean about the stunt in a video after some publicly berated him for destroying cash in a cost of living crisis, addressing Beckham directly.
He said: ‘This is my final message to David Beckham, it’s me, that prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis.
‘So, where were we? I told you I was gonna destroy £10,000 if you didn’t end your relationship with Qatar before the first day of the world cup, and then when you didn’t end your relationship or even respond in any way, I streamed myself dropping 10k into a shredder, or did I?’
He continued: ‘I haven’t quite told you the whole truth – 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, 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 bulls**t from the start.’
