Joe Lycett criticises FA in wake of money-shredding stunt: ‘They pretend to be allies until it’s inconvenient’
Joe Lycett has accused the FA of “pretending to be allies of the LGBT community” until it becomes inconvenient.
The comic said he had had “some conversations” with the Football Association after announcing a stunt in which he threatened to destroy £10,000 of his own money unless David Beckham pulled out of his deal with World Cup hosts Qatar, where homosexuality is still illegal.
One week later, Lycett released a video which appeared to show him shredding the cash. However, he later revealed it was a hoax and he had already donated the money to LGBT+ charities.
Speaking on Times Radio on Monday (12 December), the Birmingham-born stand-up and presenter admitted he “always knew” he would never hear from Beckham.
He said he was “trying to get hold of his number that week and just see if I could just ring him”.
However, Lycett claimed, “certain people get so famous” that they become unreachable.
“I kind of knew I wouldn’t ever hear from him,” he said.
Lycett said Beckham is “a perfect kind of emblem” of the way “a lot of brands particularly, and a lot of institutions, pretend to be allies of the LGBT community until it’s inconvenient for them”.
“And I would add the FA into that group, actually,” he said. “I had some conversations with the FA and they had sort of directed me to their statement about the One Love armband and how proud they were of all that.
“We know where we got to with that, don’t we?”
At the start of the contest, England and Wales, along with other European nations, announced they would not be wearing the anti-discrimination One Love rainbow armbands after governing body Fifa threatened sporting sanctions.
Lycett previously said Beckham’s team had reached out to him about the stunt but that he was “not satisfied” with the discussions.
“I won’t attack any of the footballers and all that because actually, they might never get to do a World Cup again and it’s their careers,” he said. “I think fair play to them. They’re in a really tricky situation and I’m sure they’ve all got individual opinions on it.
“But I felt that David Beckham, he isn’t being paid by Fifa or the World Cup. He’s being paid by Qatar, allegedly.”
Representatives of Beckham and the FA have been contacted for comment.
Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas airs on Thursday 15 December at 9pm on Channel 4.
Additional reporting by Press Association.
