Real or fake, Joe Lycett’s stunt was never going to bother shameless Beckham

Beckham was never going to back down (Picture: Twitter / Joe Lycett)

I hoped he was kidding. 

As Joe Lycett slowly paced towards the shredder, holding £10,000, I wanted the comedian to turn to the camera and say, ‘Obviously I’m not going to destroy an obscene amount of money during this cost-of-living crisis’. 

But he didn’t. I was livid and in disbelief. Surely Joe Lycett wouldn’t be that tone deaf?

I mean, we all knew Beckham wasn’t going to quit his ambassador role that he’s reportedly being paid up to £150million for, regardless of the human rights abuses of Qatar. How could Lycett be so naïve?

It’s only now, a day later, that the comedian has revealed the money was fake, the actual £10k had gone to LGBTQ+ charities, and he too knew that the footballer wouldn’t make a much-needed stand.

And it’s sent a powerful message: David Beckham is shameless.

It came after Lycett issued an ultimatum to the former footballer a week before the opening ceremony, stating his intentions.  

‘If you end your relationship with Qatar, I will donate 10 grand of my own money (that’s a grand for every million you’re reportedly getting) to charities that support queer people in football,’ he said.

‘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.’

I was fooled and I may or may not have already drafted an op-ed exclaiming that he should have donated the money, regardless of whether Beckham replied or not (which thankfully Lycett did). 

Because while I agreed with Lycett’s stance and reasoning for disposing of such a big sum – David Beckham should never have accepted this role, or the money attached to it – I knew that Beckham was never going to bend. 

It’s something that he should be deeply ashamed about.

While some have argued Beckham could use his platform to champion LGBTQ+ rights, how vocal are you really going to be when the Qataris are lining your pockets?  

And if Beckham thought the World Cup could actually be an opportunity for ‘progress, inclusivity and tolerance’ – as he said following backlash to his position – he was naïve. 

I initially thought Joe Lycett was partaking in some wishful thinking too for assuming the threat of shredding £10k would lead to David Beckham quitting his role.

There are so many reasons why Beckham was never going to back out, but I suspect among those: his various agents advised him it would be a bad career move; there would be penalties (no pun intended) for him breaking contract; not wanting to submit to peer pressure; male ego – the list goes on. 

David Beckham looks on from an executive box at Qatar v Ecuador (Picture: Javier Garcia/Shutterstock)

He would have known the ethical and moral quandaries of taking such a position before accepting, so why should a comedian reiterating them afterwards change his mindset?

As soon as Joe Lycett announced he would be shredding £10,000 if Beckham didn’t step down, I knew I’d be seeing that money turned to tatters.

Lycett has always been the king of stunts for a good cause. He legally changed his name to Hugo Boss after the company sent cease-and-desist letters to businesses with ‘boss’ in their names. He’s taken a stand against oil companies like Shell and had ‘gotcha’ moments like when he ‘stormed off’ Steph’s Packed Lunch to make a point about single-use plastics. 

Given that the latter was staged, I had hope that Joe Lycett – an absolute hero – couldn’t be tone deaf enough to bin so much money.

When people are having to choose between eating and heating, surely not? Maybe at the end of the video, he’d turn around and say, ‘by the way, that was fake, but David Beckham you are still spineless. I will be giving this money to charity after all.’ 

But what he has done is even better.

Joe Lycett performs during The Opening Ceremony of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games (Picture: Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

This new video, in which he reveals the money is fake and shreds David Beckham’s Attitude cover (Beckham was the first Premier League football player to appear on the cover of a gay magazine), shows how flimsy Beckham’s allyship is. 

How disappointing it is that Joe Lycett knew not to even hope for a response from his team. 

While I didn’t see the original shredder video as a protest – I thought it would have been wrong to destroy money when so many need it – this video is a protest. 

This video takes a stand, condemning the actions of Qatar and Beckham for being in their pocket.

It takes the shine off of one of our biggest national treasures and lets him – and others – know he will be held accountable for his actions, that no amount of queueing with everyone else at the Queen’s funeral can hide the fact he has given up his convictions for £150million. 

England will no longer be wearing their OneLove armbands (Picture: Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images)

Joe Lycett’s protest sends home the message that if we’re disgusted by a comedian shredding £10k, we should be incensed by the sheer greed of Beckham. 

This World Cup should not be happening in Qatar, and David bloody Beckham should have known better than to accept an ambassador position. The role lasts a decade, and has so far seen him front tourism videos and meet dignitaries.

He should be ashamed.

Beckham might not respond, but through actions like Lycett’s, he will know that we think his behaviour is abhorrent. He’s certainly lost my respect. 

Lycett, already high in my estimations, is my pick for next national treasure. 

Joe Lycett’s video drawing attention to the fact that it is illegal to be gay in Qatar, potentially punishable by death for its Muslim citizens, and his later clip slamming Beckham, did more good than shredding £10k ever will. 

Protests, education, donating money to LGBTQ+ football charities, footballers making a stance by wearing One Love armbands (ahem), is positive action.

David Beckham’s ambassador role is not.

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He has given up his convictions for £150million.