James O’Brien takes aim at virtueless opponents of Joe Lycett ‘shredding’ £10K
21 November 2022, 14:36 | Updated: 23 November 2022, 22:03
James O’Brien lambasts those finding flaws in Joe Lycett’s ‘brilliant’ publicity stunt.
After comedian Joe Lycett was attacked for 'shredding £10,000' as a protest against David Beckham's involvement with the Qatar World Cup, James O’Brien slammed people who accuse do-gooders of "virtue signalling" declaring it as a reflection of their own lack of virtues.
James O’Brien laid into those desperate to find fault in comedian Joe Lycett who appeared to shred ten thousand pounds in retaliation to the football legend's involvement with Qatar.
He explained that the comedian's actions had brought a significant amount of attention to David Beckham’s reported ten million pound deal to become Qatar World Cup Ambassador, amid the scrutiny the country is facing over its human rights issues.
“The Joe Lycett story is brilliant,” James began.
“Who was really talking about David Beckham's ten million quid payday until Joe Lycett decided to ‘spend’, for want of a better verb, ten thousand pounds drawing attention to David Beckham's ten million pound payday for essentially camouflaging a rancid homophobic regime?” he asked.
The World Cup has been embroiled in controversy, from the deaths of migrant workers building the stadium to the banning of beer, and Qatar’s stance on the LGBTQ+ community.
England and Wales have now backed down and decided not to wear One Love armbands after FIFA said captains could face an instant yellow card for doing so.
Joe Lycett had given David Beckham an ultimatum to cut ties with Qatar, or else the comedian would shred the money before the World Cup Opening Ceremony.
The comedian has now revealed that it was “an empty threat designed to get people talking”, explaining that the money which went into the shredder was real, but the money that came out destroyed was fake.
🏳️🌈 pic.twitter.com/YuPYSQ2M6u
— Joe Lycett (@joelycett) November 21, 2022
He went on: “Most of our privately owned media uphold epic inequality.
“Look at the effort put into dissuading or discouraging the National Trust from teaching actual English History because it can be very very ugly.”
“Why do you think ‘virtue signalling’ has become a popular phrase among people who have no virtue at all? Why do you think ‘do-gooder’ has become a pejorative?” James asked his listeners.
"People who set out to uphold discrimination...people who are gross...are desperate to pretend that anybody who speaks out against discrimination, persecution, inequality is secretly just as bad as they are."
He describes these people as individuals who “don’t think any intervention in pursuit of a better world is honest and sincere, they think it’s virtue signalling”, James said.
Many people called for Joe Lycett to donate the money he threatened to shred to charity or food banks, in his announcement today the comedian revealed he had donated the money to LGBTQ+ charities before he sent out the ultimatum in the first place.
He added that people who criticise that kind of intervention believe it is “designed solely to enhance the brand of the person making the speech - whether it’s Marcus Rashford campaigning on school dinners or whether it's Greta Thunberg campaigning on the environment”.
James explained that this mentality comes from people being unable to “conceive of anybody actually being good or decent or altruistic” because they are “a scumbag”.
James O'Brien details the hilarity of Joe Lycett exposing media hypocrisy
