Joe Lycett has confirmed that he didn’t shred £10,000 after all as part of his campaign to encourage David Beckham to end his relationship with Qatar.
Addressing his followers in a video, the comedian revealed the truth behind the video, saying the money had already gone to LGBT charities.
“This is my final message to David Beckham,” he said. “It’s me! That prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis. So, where we?”
Explaining how he’d streamed himself dropping the money into a shredder, Lycett added: “Or did I? I haven’t quite told you the whole truth.”
Lycett then revealed that, while the money he threw in had been real, what came out was fake.
“I would never destroy real money. I would never be so irresponsible,” he said, adding that the £10,000 had already been donated to LGBT+ charities before he sent his first tweet to Beckham.
“I never expected to hear from you. It was an empty threat designed to get people talking,” Lycett explained. “In many ways, it was like your deal with Qatar, David. Total bulls*** from the start. I’m not even queer! Only joking.”
Instead, Lycett pulled out of a copy of Beckham’s 2002 Attitude cover, which was the first ever cover of a gay magazine with a Premier League footballer on it.
He then shredded the cover, clarifying that he’d asked Attitude for permission and they were “more than happy to oblige”.
Ending the video, he said: “Gosh, it’s all been quite a lot this, hasn’t it? I’m off down the gay village to have a few pints.”
Polling by The London Economic showed that most people would have supported the star had he shredded the money for real.
A Twitter poll found that 63 per cent thought he was right to do so compared to 37 per cent who thought the opposite was true.
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