Comic Joe Lycett has shredded £10,000 of his own money as a protest about David Beckham being an ambassador for the World Cup finals in Qatar.
Lycett posted live to Twitter himself apparently pitching two bundles of notes into the whirring shredder.
He said he would destroy the money unless Beckham – a former England captain – stood down as an ambassador.
Beckham – reported to be worth more than £350 million – is said to have received a £10 million pay cheque for his role at the finals.
The stunt took place as the controversial finals started in the Arab country.
The games have been blighted by Qatar’s poor record on human rights, gay people, and the alleged death of migrant workers building the stadia.
The awarding of the World Cup to Qatar is also mired in allegations of bribery and corruption.
Lycett’s protest caused mixed reactions.
While some applauded his stance many believed he should have given the money to charity.
Former minister Nadine Dorries tweeted prior to the money being destroyed:
“Shredding £10k will earn Joe Lycett far more than it will cost him and is in effect a paid-for publicity stunt which has worked.
“No-one will think any worse of him now if he changes his mind at the last minute and donates it to a homeless shelter in time for Christmas”.
Lycett captioned the Twitter video “a platform for progress”.
Two wads of notes are on a table and an industrial shredder is churning away in the background.
It’s not known if the notes are genuine.
Lycett – dressed in a bizarre rainbow coloured ballet style outfit and wearing orange ear mufflers – picks up the money and tosses the packs into the shredder.
He takes a bow at the end.
“A platform for progress” pic.twitter.com/EeMelv01nu
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 20, 2022
