British comedian Joe Lycett has given soccer star and gay icon David Beckham an ultimatum: Drop your multimillion-dollar deal as an ambassador of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, or £10,000 goes in the shredder. Lycett said he would donate the cash—worth around $11,800—to charities that support queer people in soccer if Beckham ditched his ambassadorial role, which is reportedly netting the star around $11.7 million. Lycett explained that while Beckham was the first soccer player to do photoshoots with gay magazines and speak openly about his LGBT fans, Qatar is one of the worst places on the planet to be gay, where homosexuality can be punished by imprisonment or even death. The comic has set up a website where he says the money will be shredded live on Sunday Nov. 20 before the World Cup opening ceremony if Beckham goes ahead with his deal. “Not just the money, but your status as a gay icon will be shredded,” Lycett said in a video addressed to Beckham. “You’ll be forcing me to commit a crime,” he said. “But even then I reckon I’ll get off more lightly than I would if I got caught wanking off a lad in Doha.”
