‘It’s a positive that debate about key issues has been stimulated’: David Beckham FINALLY addresses his controversial World Cup role as Joe Lycett reads out a statement from the former footballer
David Beckham has finally issued a statement to Joe Lycett after the comedian pretended to ‘shred £10,000’ over the footballer’s £10million World Cup deal with Qatar.
Last month, Joe pulled a stunt in which he threatened to destroy £10,000 of his own money unless David Beckham pulled out of his deal with World Cup hosts Qatar, where homosexuality is still illegal.
And after repeated attempts from Joe for comment, David’s team has finally addressed the issue as they remarked that the sportsman sees it as ‘a positive that debate about key issues has been stimulated’ from the World Cup being played in the country.
Overdue: David Beckham has finally issued a statement to Joe Lycett after the comedian pretended to ‘shred £10,000’ over the footballer’s £10million World Cup deal with Qatar
Joe read the statement on a special edition of his show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, which read in full: ‘David has been involved in a number of World Cups and other major international tournaments both as a player and an ambassador and he’s always believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world.
‘Football, the most popular sport globally, has a genuine ability to bring people together and make a real contribution to communities.
‘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.
‘We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people and that progress will be achieved.’
Not impressed: Joe read the statement from David’s people in full, but legally wasn’t allowed to comment on it
Ultimatum: Last month, Joe pulled a stunt in which he threatened to destroy £10,000 of his own money unless David Beckham pulled out of his deal with World Cup hosts Qatar
After reading the statement on his show, Joe said that he wasn’t legally allowed to give his opinion on it.
However, he did read a tweet from a Twitter account which labelled him a ‘k**b’ and said his stunt ‘achieved nothing’ – the latter of which Joe agreed with.
The star looked despondent as he told the audience: ‘I did achieve nothing, Beckham still hasn’t addressed the issues faced by LGBTQ people in Qatar.’
He continued: ‘People say to me “why does it matter so much to you?” and the reason it matters is because if someone like me lived in Qatar, they wouldn’t be able to be someone like me.’
Joe then went on to addressed LGBTQ allies, remarking that if someone wants to be an ally, they should be one to rely on at al times, not just when convenient.
Response: After repeated attempts from Joe for comment, David’s team has finally addressed the issue as they remarked that the sportsman sees it as ‘a positive that debate about key issues has been stimulated’ from the World Cup being played in the country.
He said: ‘I want to talk about allies, in particular, companies and celebrities who like to think they’re allies to our community, who are happy to slap a rainbow on when it doesn’t cost them anything, but looked the other way when it came to the World Cup.
‘What I say is that we need allies, but allies we can rely on not to run away the moment it looks difficult, or when the first yellow card is threatened.
‘We need everyone to be our allies and we need them to remember that being an ally is for life, not just for Christmas specials.’
And while he couldn’t respond to David’s comment directly, earlier in the show, Joe hit out at David’s Qatar role, stating: ‘I am angry at his blatant hypocrisy and failure to be an ally to the LGBTQ community.’
Big deal: The comic previously issued an ultimatum to the former England footballer after it was reported he had signed a £10 million deal with the FIFA World Cup hosts
With the comedy star going onto add: ‘We deserve better from our national hero.’
He also branded Victoria Beckham’s husband a ‘disgrace’ as he told how it was ‘disappointing because he’s not changed his mind.’
Throughout the programme, Joe recounted his journey into getting David to do U-turn over his ambassador role, revealing he had not had any response to his then upcoming money shredding stunt.
Last month, Lycett released the video which controversially appeared to show him shredding the cash but later revealed it was a hoax and he had already donated the money to LGBTQ+ charities.
Disappointing: The star looked despondent as he told the audience: ‘I did achieve nothing, he still hasn’t addressed the issue’
It comes after Joe recently explained how he pulled off his recent stunt of pretending to shred £10k over David’s £10million World Cup deal with Qatar.
Speaking on Jeremy Vine on 5, the comedian explained the money he put into the machine was real but that it was collected in a bucket.
There were then two canisters which held the fake money that came out ‘shredded’ on the other side.
Poignant: ‘People say to me “why does it matter so much to you?” and the reason it matters is because if someone like me lived in Qatar, they wouldn’t be able to be someone like me’
He said: ‘There was lots of behind-the-scenes stuff, lots of stress really. That whole weekend I was so wrecked with anxiety and fear because it felt really wrong, it felt really scary to be doing what I was doing.’
Joe added: ‘I knew I needed to do something like that in order to generate the press and the intrigue.
‘Which is depressing really. You would hope that human rights being abused would generate its own intrigue.’
Explanation: Joe recently explained how he pulled off pretending to shred £10k over David Beckham’s £10million World Cup deal with Qatar
Explaining how the machine worked, he said: ‘Actually, if you’d put real money into the machine it would not have come out like that.
‘It’s a little bit of theatre essentially but I wanted it to look as bleak and as shocking as possible. I think we managed that.’
Joe said the real cash was put into the shredder to make the stunt look more realistic instead of fake money, which has different dimensions.
The comedian said: ‘We knew that if we used those [fake money], people would go “oh that’s fake” immediately. We needed real money to go into the shredder to look legitimate.’
Controversy: Joe said the money he put into the machine was real but that it was collected in a bucket and the fake money was in two canisters that came out ‘shredded’ on the other side
When asked what happened to the £10,000, he said it was returned to the bank as he had already donated the money to charity.
Joe also spoke to Global journalists Emily Maitlis and Jon Sopel on their podcast, The News Agents earlier this month about hearing from Beckham’s people after the stunt.
He explained: ‘I’ve not heard directly from Beckham, we have had some movement with his people.’
Emily, laughing, added: ‘Wait is that like a writ, or a suing, or a friendly hello?’
Joe said: ‘I’d love to be sued by him, what a twist that would be. Basically we’ve had some contact with them. But legally at the minute, I’m not sure what I’m allowed to say.
‘I’m not satisfied with where we’ve got to, let’s put it that way.’
Ambassador: Joe said that he has had some contact with David Beckham’s (pictured in Qatar) people after his plea for the ex-footballer to end his relationship with the country
Emily continued: ‘So they’re offering positive moves, money? Or donations?’ and Joe responded: ‘No. They’re not offering anything really. They’re just talking to us a little bit.
‘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.’
Jon Sopel added: ‘I honestly can’t think of anything that has been done, in PR or advertising, for ten grand that has garnered so much attention.
Joe is openly pansexual, meaning he is attracted to all genders, and he has spoken about being queer and advocated for LGBTQ+ rights on many occasions.
The World Cup is happening in Qatar – where homosexuality is still illegal and anyone found participating in same-sex, sexual activity can be punished with up to seven years in prison.
Contact: On November 16, Mr Lycett shared an email sent to Beckham’s PR saying there was only four days to go, stressing that he did not want to be forced to shred the money
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