Joe Lycett wins a BAFTA for his show tackling David Beckham drama
Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas won a BAFTA for Best Feature.
Comedian Joe Lycett’s BAFTA acceptance speech caused quite the stir.
Joe was awarded Best Feature for his consumer complaints show Joe Lycett’s Got Your Back on Sunday (14 May).
The Channel 4 comedy saw Joe take up the fight against corporate giants to get consumer justice.
He wasn’t in attendance, however one of his colleagues read out a speech on his behalf.
“Joe says: ‘I’m sorry I can’t be with you, but according to my PR team I have shingles’.”
The reference is seemingly a swipe at Holly Willoughby who was struck by the same illness and took a month off This Morning amid her reported feud with co-host Phillip Schofield.
The Joe Lycett vs Beckham: Got Your Back at Xmas special episode saw Joe take on the sporting world ahead of the Qatar World Cup.
He took aim at David Beckham in particular. He threatened to “shred” £10,000 if Beckham didn’t leave his deal with Qatar.
While reports differ, some suggested the deal was worth up to £150 million over 10 years.
In Qatar, homosexuality is illegal and can be punishable with prison sentences and even death.
The advocacy group Human Rights Watch recently reported that six LGBTQ Qataris had been beaten and sexually harassed while in police custody. These reports were denied by Qatar.
“I’d like to dedicate this to the people that are still being oppressed in Qatar.”
Joe gave Beckham a week to respond before “shredding” the £10,000. This was then revealed to be fake and that the money had already been donated to LGBTQ charities.
Joe then shredded a copy of Beckham’s 2002 Attitude magazine cover.
As he notes: “This was the first ever cover of a gay magazine with a Premier League footballer on it.”
“I asked Attitude if I could shred it and they were more than happy to oblige” – we can confirm.
By this time Beckham’s team had responded on the former footballer’s behalf.
However, many weren’t happy with the statement. It was described by Attitude’s Editor-in-Chief, Cliff Joannou, as “beyond disappointing”.
At the end of Joe’s BAFTA speech, he addressed all of this drama that unfolded.
He concluded: “I’d like to dedicate this to the people that are still being oppressed in Qatar, this is for them, really.”
Celebrating the win on Instagram, Joe once again delivered in delightful trolling; thanking P&O Cruises over and over and over for the win.