Joe Lycett responds to criticism for performing in Qatar before David Beckham stunt

21 December, 2022

Joe Lycett David Beckham

Joe Lycett has released a statement after it resurfaced that he performed in Qatar prior to his David Beckham money-shredding stunt.

Last month, Lycett threatened to shred £10,000 if Beckham didn’t pull out of his contract as an ambassador in the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. When the former England footballer didn’t respond, Lycett appeared to destroy the money in a subsequent livestream.

The comedian later revealed the destroyed money was actually fake, with the £10,000 instead donated to LGBTQ+ charities, in protest of Qatar’s strict anti-LGBTQ laws, before he proposed the ultimatum.

A recent report highlighted quotes from Lycett’s 2016 book Parsnips, Buttered, where he recalled playing shows in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar, with some branding his Beckham stunt as hypocritical in hindsight. The comedian, however, was recently open about his visit to Qatar in an interview with The New York Times.

In response to the reports, Lycett posted a statement on Twitter (December 21), which reads: “Oops! I’ve been caught out by The Sun! I did two gigs in Doha in 2015 and kept it entirely secret by writing about it in my own book and mentioning it in multiple interviews including with the NY Times!

“If you’re interested, I was paid a few hundred quid (not by Qatar but by UK comedy promoters) but it was 2015 and that went a lot further back then. I reckon that if a popular comedian from those days (eg Shane Ritchie) had shredded a few hundred quid to persuade me not to go, it would have made a difference.

“But who can say? I don’t have the perfect hindsight and spotless morality of, to pick a completely random example, The Sun newspaper.”

Beckham recently responded to Lycett’s stunt in a statement, which was shared on the comedian’s Got Your Back series on Channel 4.

“We understand that there are different and strongly held views about engagement in the Middle East but see it as positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated directly by the first World Cup being held in the region,” Beckham’s statement read.

“We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people and that progress will be achieved.”

Lycett originally criticised Beckham’s role as a World Cup ambassador, a deal reportedly worth £10million, due to Qatar’s criminalisation of homosexuality and the country’s human rights record.

During the video where Lycett revealed the shredded money was fake, the comedian shredded Beckham’s Attitude magazine cover from June 2002, which was the first gay magazine cover to feature a Premier League footballer.

“I asked Attitude if I could shred it and they were more than happy to oblige,” Lycett said.

The post Joe Lycett responds to criticism for performing in Qatar before David Beckham stunt appeared first on NME.