Comedian Joe Lycett has responded to reports he has previously performed in Qatar following his criticism of David Beckham’s work in the Gulf state.
The stand-up had threatened to destroy £10,000 of his own money last month unless the former England footballer opts out of his £10million deal with the World Cup host, where homosexuality is illegal.
Wednesday, Lycett sarcastically tweeted that he had been “caught” by The Sun newspaper after publishing an article saying he had performed in Doha a few years ago.
The comedian had previously mentioned his concerts around Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar in his autobiography, published in 2016.
Lycett wrote: “Oops! I was surprised by The Sun!
“I did two concerts in Doha in 2015 and kept it a secret by writing about it in my own book and mentioning it in multiple interviews, including with the NY Times!
“If you’re interested, I got paid a few hundred pounds (not by Qatar but by British comedy promoters) but that was in 2015 and it went a lot further back then.
“I think if a popular comedian at the time (eg Shane Ritchie) had shredded a few hundred books to persuade me not to go, it would have made a difference. But who can tell?
“I don’t have the perfect hindsight and spotless morality of, to take a completely random example, The Sun newspaper.”
In a tweet to Lycett, broadcaster Piers Morgan wrote: “(The) problem is that you have decided to name yourself the great halo moralist outraged on Qatar regarding Beckham and LGBT rights, but you have also been paid to appear there .
“Blaming the media for exposing your hypocrisy is kind of pathetic.”
Beckham failed to respond to Lycett’s threat to destroy £10,000, prompting the comedian to appear to shred the cash on a live broadcast.
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Lycett ‘would never destroy real money’
He later revealed that the money was fake and claimed he donated the proceeds to LGBT+ charities.
The stunt highlighted concerns over hosting the World Cup in a country where same-sex relationships can be punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Qatar has been criticized for its laws and attitudes towards migrant workers and LGBT+ communities.
