LGBTQ+ charities Stonewall and Sport Allies have received £5,000 each that a comedian pretended to shred in protest at David Beckham’s role as an ambassador for the World Cup in Qatar.
Joe Lycett posted a video of himself appearing to shred £10,000 in cash on Sunday after the former footballer failed to respond to the comedian’s ultimatum urging him to quit his ambassadorial role.
Lycett clarified the following day that the shredding had been staged and he had already donated £10,000 to LGBTQ+ charities.
Sports Allies had an income of £890 last financial year and said it was “gobsmacked” to receive the donation, which was initially made anonymously.
Money donated prior to stunt
Last week the comedian protested Beckham’s role as an ambassador for the Qatar World Cup. In Qatar, homosexuality is illegal and the maximum penalty is death by stoning.
In an ultimatum to the footballer, Lycett threatened to shred £10,000 if Beckham did not pull out of his deal with Qatar. If he did, he would donate the money to LGBTQ+ charities.
When Beckham did not respond on Sunday, Lycett posted a video of himself appearing to shred the £10,000.
In a video update posted on Monday, Lycett revealed the stunt had been fake and said he would never be so “irresponsible” as to shred money.
He clarified: “The money that went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out was fake.
“In fact, the £10,000 had already been donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even pressed send on the initial tweet last week.”
Stonewall was initially unaware that Lycett had donated to it as it received an anonymous donation of £5,000 last week.
Stonewall ‘thrilled’ to receive the £5,000 donation
Robbie De Santos, director of communications and external affairs at Stonewall, said: “We are thrilled to be included in Joe Lycett's £10,000 donation to charities that promote equality in football and are challenging the appalling human rights record of Qatar as they host the men's World Cup.
“LGBTQ+ people are criminalised in Qatar just for being themselves and no country which abuses the human rights of its people in this way should be awarded with the honour of hosting a major sporting tournament in the first place.
“We're calling on people to join our protest by signing up to Proud Stadium – a virtual stadium of all supporters which matches the capacity of Qatar's 80,000-seater Lusail Iconic stadium. Together we can stand shoulder to shoulder with LGBTQ+ Qataris.”
Sport Allies ‘gobsmacked’ to receive the funds
Lycett donated the remaining £5,000 to Sport Allies, a charity that works to dismantle gender stereotypes in sport and promote diversity and inclusion.
The small charity's total income for the financial year ending January 2022 was £890.
Its income has been considerably lower post-pandemic, as the charity's annual income for the financial year of January 2020 was over £10,000.
Angus Malcolm, chair and founder of Sport Allies, said: “Joe’s intervention in the debate over the World Cup has been truly inspiring. It shows how effectively we can make our voices heard if we are willing to step up. We were happily watching with admiration from the sidelines, and were gobsmacked to find out that the funds had not been shredded and half of them were in fact in our bank account. We are deeply humbled that Joe has made us a part of such an incredible story, alongside our compatriots at Stonewall. He is an example to us all.”
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