Joe Lycett's £10,000 shredder protest against David Beckham nominated for major LGBT+ award

Comedian Joe Lycett's £10,000 shredder protest against David Beckham has been nominated for a major LGBT+ award.

The Birmingham comedian pretended to destroy £10,000 in a shredder, in protest against Beckham's involvement in the Qatar 2022 World Cup because of the country's laws against homosexuality and other human rights abuses.

The stunt has now landed Lycett a nomination for the media moment award at the British LGBT Awards in June, for drawing awareness to the issue and sparking conversation around human rights in Qatar.

 Lycett took to Twitter to give the "gay icon" and former England football captain an ultimatum after he had signed a reported £10 million deal with Qatar.

If Beckham withdrew as an ambassador for the FIFA World Cup, the 34-year-old said he'd donate £10,000 to charities supporting Queer people in football - £1,000 for every £1 million Beckham is being paid.

But, the ex-Manchester United star remained as a brand ambassador for the World Cup, and so Lycett appeared to shred the money on a livestream, just before the opening ceremony on Sunday 20 November 2022.

Lycett then revealed he hadn't shredded real money and had donated the £10,000 to LGBT+ charities.

A spokesperson for David Beckham later issued the following statement:

It read: "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."