British comedian who supposedly streamed himself shredding $11,000 now reveals it was a stunt

British comedian Joe Lycett confirmed that he didn’t shred £10,000 ($11,800) as he previously implied.

Lycett had previously asked for former Manchester United, Real Madrid and LA Galaxy midfielder David Beckham to resign from his role as ambassador for Qatar during the World Cup due to their human rights record, particularly its stance on homosexuality, which is illegal in Qatar.

On November 13, Lycett, who describes himself as queer on his personal website, posted a video on Twitter, promising to donate £10,000 to charities supporting “queer people in football” or put the money through the shredder, along with “Beckham’s reputation as a gay icon,” if Beckham did not sever his ties with Qatar.

Lycett said he did not receive a response from Beckham, which prompted him film himself “shredding the money.”

“I told you I was going to destroy £10,000 if you didn’t end your relationship with Qatar before the first day of the World Cup, and then when you didn’t end your relationship or even respond in any way, I streamed myself dropping 10k into a shredder, or did I?’” Lycett said on social media.

“I haven’t quite told you the whole truth – because the truth is the money that went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out was fake. I would never destroy real money.”

He continued, “I would never be so irresponsible. In fact, the 10 grand had already been donated to LGBTQ+ charities before I even pressed send on the initial tweet last week. I never expected to hear from you, it was an empty threat designed to get people talking.”

LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall confirmed that it had received a donation from Lycett.