Joe Lycett issues hilarious statement as pictures from his 2015 Qatar gig emerge online
Joe Lycett #JoeLycett
Joe Lycett has issued a hilarious statement after historic pictures of the comedian performing in Qatar emerged online.
The comedian had previously shared his outrage at David Beckham taking up a role as ambassador at this year’s controversial FIFA World Cup in Qatar and famously ‘shredded’ £10,000 in protest against the former footballer’s controversial deal with the country.
But earlier this week some accused the much-loved star of hypocrisy, as old pictures emerged of Joe performing comedy gigs in Qatar and Dubai several years ago.
Joe – who identifies as pansexual – has previously discussed the performances in his autobiography and, more recently, in an interview with an American publication but took to Twitter today to make address the situation once again.
Joe’s statement reads: “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!
“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 shared the statement on Twitter this morning, captioning it: “A statement from Mummy.”
Over the weekend, Joe shared a profile on him from The New York Times in which the comedian discussed his time in Qatar.
“I didn’t feel safe there,” Joe told the American publication, adding that he was advised by the organisers not to leave his hotel.
According to Human Rights Watch, same-sex relations in Qatar are punishable by up to seven years in prison.
Joe had previously mocked the region’s anti-gay laws in his autobiography titled Parsnips, Buttered. He wrote: “I was performing stand-up in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Qatar.
“Friends of mine had warned me about travelling to these countries, claiming that ‘they don’t like’, as one friend put it, ‘your lot’.
“The punishment for homosexuality in these countries is oft jail, the logic of which I’ve never understood. Oh, you like men? We’ll put you in a box with some’. Not exactly a punishment, lads!”
As Joe shared his statement today, fans of the star rushed to support him and thank the former Sewing Bee presenter for the work he does for the LGBTQ+ community.
“In other news – a young, up and coming comedian took a paid gig by UK promoters to avoid being completely broke,” one of Joe’s fans wrote in reply to his update.
Another wrote: “There’s a massive difference between doing a gig in Qatar and being paid £10m+ by the Qatari government to be a figurehead for their sportswashing.
“There’s no hypocrisy here, you may have done a gig in the country, he actively promoted that country to a global audience.”
A third simply quote-tweeted Joe’s statement and added: “I love him more and more each day!”
Last month Joe, 34, called out former “gay icon” Beckham, 47, on his role with Qatar ahead of the World Cup due to the issue of workers’ and LGBTQ+ rights in Qatar. David is said to have signed a £150million contract with Qatar over 10 years.
He appeared to go ahead with his threat of shredding £10,000 if the former England captain didn’t drop his £10million World Cup deal, but later confirmed he hadn’t actually destroyed the money.
Last week, Joe read out a statement on his Got Your Back Christmas special on Channel 4 from David’s team, which said: “David has been involved in a number of World Cups and other major international tournaments both as a player and an ambassador and he has always believed that sport has the power to be a force for good in the world.
“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.
“We hope that these conversations will lead to greater understanding and empathy towards all people and that progress will be achieved.”
Writing to his Twitter followers on Tuesday, Joe addressed the reaction to last week’s Christmas special of his Channel 4 show.
The popular star tweeted: “Just heard the Got Your Back xmas special had our highest ever ratings of 1.2m. Considering it was up against The Traitors (the greatest TV show of all time)
“I am very happy that our show, largely about boring LGBTQ+ rights, did such numbers. Thanks to everyone who watched.”
Joe donated the £10,000 he appeared to shred earlier this month to charity prior to issuing Beckham with the ultimation.