Did Joe Lycett shred £10k? Comedian reveals truth after David Beckham's controversial World Cup deal

Joe Lycett has revealed that he didn't shred £10,000 and the money that came out was, in fact, fake - after David Beckham failed to respond to his World Cup ultimatum.

Lycett appeared to follow through with his pledge to destroy the money (£1,000 for every £1m of Beckham’s alleged deal) on Sunday 20 November - if the footballer didn’t end his contract in protest against Qatar’s stance on LGBT+ issues.

Had Beckham pulled out of his deal, Lycett said he would have donated the money to charities supporting gay people in football - while Beckham’s status as a "gay icon" would have remained intact.

The controversy comes as the World Cup tournament is being held in Qatar - a country where same-sex relationships are criminalised.

Appearing to stand by his decision, the comedian videoed himself on a Twitch stream on Sunday wearing a rainbow-layered tulle outfit and placed wads of what appeared to be cash into an industrial shredder, but it was not clear if the banknotes were genuine money.

Lycett later shared a video of the act to his Twitter and wrote: "A platform for progress".

It is illegal to shred, destroy or deface money in the UK, however, Lycett said he will come off "more lightly" than if he were to be gay in Doha.

However on Monday (21 November), Lycett shared a new video update on what had happened.

"This is my final message to David Beckham," he said. "It’s me! That pr*** who shredded loads of money in a cost of living crisis. So, where we?"

'I haven't quite told you the whole truth'

Explaining how he had streamed himself dropping the money into a shredder, Lycett said: "Or did I? I haven’t quite told you the whole truth."

He then revealed the money he threw in the shredder had been real and what came out was fake.

"I would never destroy real money. I would never be so irresponsible," he said, before 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, before adding: "In many ways, it was like your deal with Qatar, David. Total bulls*** from the start. I’m not even queer! Only joking."

Lycett pulled out of a copy of Beckham’s 2002 Attitude cover, which was the first 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."

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