Last week, Joe Lycett issued football superstar David Beckham an ultimatum surrounding his partnership with the upcoming Qatar World Cup.
The comedian criticised the former England captain for accepting £10m to be an ambassador for the UAE tournament, revealing that he would shred £10k of his own money if David didn't pull out of the deal.
However, he has now revealed that the money has actually been donated to LGBTQ-plus charities.
Numerous celebrities have pledged their support towards Joe, including his comedian pal and OK! columnist Judi Love.
"While I don’t think shredding the money is the right approach, I understand Joe’s reasoning," Judi wrote in her column this week. "As homosexuality is illegal in Qatar and the country has a poor human rights record."
Loose Women panellist Judi added: "It makes me uncomfortable that they can’t celebrate the sport they love. It’s 2022."
"Millions of LGBTQ+ people’s lives are at risk if they attend matches or are seen showing affection."
"This is a message to David Beckham," Joe said in the video posted online last week. "I consider you, along with Kim Woodburn and Monty Don to be a gay icon. You were the first premiership footballer to do shoots with gay magazines like Attitude, to speak openly about your gay fans, and you married a Spice Girl, which is the gayest thing a human being can do.
"But now, it's 2022, and you've signed a reported £10 million deal with Qatar, to be their ambassador during the FIFA World Cup.
"Qatar was voted one of the worst places in the world to be gay. Homosexuality is illegal – punishable by imprisonment, and if you're Muslim, possibly even death.
"You've always talked about the power of football as a force for good, which suggests to me that you've never seen West Brom, but generally, I agree. So, with that in mind, I'm giving you a choice. If you end your relationship with Qatar, I'll donate this ten grand of my own money – that's a grand for every million you're reportedly getting – to charities that support queer people in football.
"However, if you do not, at midday next Sunday, I will throw this money into a shredder just before the opening ceremony of the World Cup and stream it live on a website I've registered called benderslikebeckham.com.
"Not just the money, but also your status as a gay icon will be shredded. You'll be forcing me to commit a crime – although even then, I reckon I'll get off more lightly than if I got caught w*****g off a lad in Doha. The choice is yours. I look forward to hearing from you."
Since then, in a screenshot of an email sent to David’s PR team, Joe explains to the footballer: "I’ve managed to get myself into a bit of a pickle – I’ve been a bit daft and publicly announced that I’m going to shred £10K on Sunday if David doesn’t end his relationship with Qatar, or donate the cash to LGBTQ+ charities if he does, yet we’re now four days out and I haven’t heard a peep from him.
"Could you do me a solid and let me know if there’s any chance he might budge on his position, or am I to expect radio silence on this?"
"I really don’t want to shred ten grand!!!" he continued. "I also really don’t want a national treasure that has historically supported the LGBTQ+ community to publicly endorse and advertise a nation state that has an appalling human rights record and has the death penalty for gays – call me old fashioned!!!!!!
"There’s still time for David and his team to do the right thing. I’m happy to speak to you about this at any time that you find convenient."
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