Joe Lycett responds to claims of hypocrisy over Qatar
"I did two gigs in Doha in 2015 and kept it entirely secret by writing about it in my own book and mentioning it in multiple interviews," the comedian said.
The comedian, Joe Lycett, has delivered a brilliant response to claims of hypocrisy when it comes to Qatar.
Recently, the Birmingham comedian called out former England footballer David Beckham for his sponsorship deal with the hosts of the FIFA World Cup. This involved him pretending to “shred” £10,000.
In response to the stunt, some people pointed out that the comedian had performed in Qatar in 2015. After The Sun wrote on Tuesday (20 December) that Lycett might have to “eat his words” as a result the comedian took to Twitter to deliver his response.
In a statement, he wrote: “Oops! I’ve been caught out by The Sun! I did two gigs in Doha in 2015 and kept it entirely secret by writing about it in my own book and mentioning it in multiple interviews including with the NY Times!”
He did bring it up while speaking to the NY Times here. He also mentioned it in his book, Parsnips Buttered.
He continued: “If you’re interested, I was paid a few hundred quid (not by Qatar but by UK comedy promoters) but it was 2015 and that went a lot further back then. I reckon that if a popular comedian from those days (eg Shane Ritchie) had shredded a few hundred quid to persuade me not to go, it would have made a difference.”
He closed: “But who can say? I don’t have the perfect hindsight and spotless morality of, to pick a completely random example, The Sun newspaper.”
People have come out both in favour and against Lycett since he put out his statement.
In November, Lycett threatened to “shred” £10,000 if Beckham didn’t leave his deal with Qatar. While reports differ, some suggested the deal was worth up to £150 million over 10 years.
Lycett gave Beckham a week to respond before “shredding” the £10,000. This was later revealed to be fake and that the money had already been donated to LGBTQ charities.
The 34-year-old comedian then shredded a copy of Beckham’s 2002 Attitude magazine cover. Lycett addressed the whole drama on his Channel 4 show, Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas.
By this time Beckham’s team had responded on the former footballer’s behalf. It was described by Attitude’s Editor-in-Chief, Cliff Joannou, as “disappointing”.