Joe Lycett has released a statement responding to a recent article claiming that the comedian had taken part in gigs in Qatar back in 2015, despite his criticism of David Beckham’s multi-million pound deal with Qatar for the World Cup.
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Posting on Twitter with the caption: "A statement from mummy," 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!
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"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. But who can say? I don't have the perfect hindsight and spotless morality of, to pick a completely random example, The Sun newspaper."
Joe opened up about his gigs in Qatar
Joe previously criticised David’s participation in the World Cup, leading the former footballer to release a statement which read: "David has been involved in a number of World Cups and other major international tournaments both as a player and an ambassador and he’s always believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world.
David's team release a statement in response
"Football, the most popular sport globally, has a genuine ability to bring people together and make a real contribution to communities. We understand that there are different and strongly held views about engagement in the Middle East but see it as positive that debate about the key issues has been stimulated directly by the first World Cup being held in the region.
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"We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people and that progress will be achieved."
Speaking about the issue on his show, Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back, Joe said: "People say to me, 'Why does it matter so much to you?' and the reason it matters is because if someone like me lived in Qatar, they wouldn't be able to be someone like me."
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