Comedian Joe Lycett says he did not shred £10,000 in a stunt calling out David Beckham’s work for the Qatar World Cup – but donated it to LGBTQ+ charities instead.
The Birmingham comedian gave the former England captain until midday on Sunday to withdraw his role at the tournament saying if he did so he would donate £10,000 of his own money to charities supporting LGBTQ+ communities. If he didn’t, he would shred it.
After the deadline passed, Lycett tweeted a video appearing to do just that, which caused some controversy as people took issue with the shredding of money during a cost of living crisis.
But the comedian posted another video on Twitter on Monday, clarifying that he didn’t actually shred the cash.
“It’s me, that prick who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis!” Lycett says to Beckham in the video.
“I haven’t quite told you the truth because 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.