Entertainment
David Beckham branded ‘hypocrite’ for presenting at Earthshot Prize amid Qatar World Cup controversy: ‘What a joke!’-Emily Bashforth-Entertainment – Metro
‘He should be nowhere near this.’
Twitter ripped Becks to shreds as he presented at the environmental awards (Picture: Reuters)
David Beckham walked out to rapturous applause at The Earthshot Prize – but viewers at home didn’t feel the same.
The Earthshot Prize is awarded to five winners each year for their contributions to environmentalism, and Beckham was on hand to present the third award for ‘build a waste-free world’.
He was introduced by host Clara Amfo as ‘one of the greatest players to have ever graced a football pitch’ and a ‘dedicated Unicef ambassador’.
As the star walked onto the stage – with royalty in the audience – the crowd went wild, forcing Becks to halt his speech until the whooping died down.
‘Good evening, everyone. I was honoured to be asked by Prince William to be part of this year’s Earthshot Prize,’ the 47-year-old began.
‘Now, I’m an optimist because humans are capable of great creativity when we collaborate.
The former footballer gave a speech about using less waste (Picture: PA)
‘We create beauty in art, music, film, and of course, sport. We create things that bring us comfort in this challenging world,’ he continued in his speech.
‘But, we also create waste. We make over 300million tonnes of plastic per year. That’s the equivalent, in weight, to every adult on Earth.’
Beckham proceeded to praise the ‘incredible’ work of the finalists, before announcing Notpla as the winner.
Despite the footie icon’s cheerful manner, Twitter users were keen to bring up his ambassadorship with Qatar amid the World Cup, with one stating that he should be ‘nowhere near’ the Earthshot.
Beckham described himself as an ‘optimist’ when it comes to climate change (Picture: PA)
He brushed shoulders with the Prince and Princess of Wales at the do (Picture: Samir Hussein/WireImage)
Blasting him as a ‘hypocrite’ they tweeted: ‘David Beckham should be nowhere near this, he is literally the ambassador for the World Cup with the biggest ever carbon footprint, absolute hypocrite’.
The former Manchester United player has endured great criticism since signing a multi-million-pound deal with Qatar, where the tournament is currently being held.
Qatar has a range of issues with human rights, with severe lack of protections for women, while homosexuality is illegal and punishable by imprisonment.
Over 6,000 migrant workers have also died in the Arab country since it was awarded the role of hosting the World Cup.
And it wasn’t just one social media user calling out Beckham for putting in an appearance at the environmental event, as another tweeted fiercely: ‘Beckham talking about waste and the planet. How much did someone pay him for that speech? Did he stand in a queue for his cheque for a few hours? I’ll tell him what is a waste. Lives. For building stadiums for the government that paid him a s**t ton of cash’.
Referencing the footballer’s own mileage in his jets, another wrote: ‘Is David Beckham really going to be telling us how we can affect the environment when he probably flies more in a month than most people in their entire lifetime?’
‘The #EarthShotPrize has come on complete with David Beckham fresh from Qatar. It’s all a bit weird. Is a glitzy awards ceremony with huge name acts the best way to recognise people combatting climate change? Bit Black Mirror’, suggested another.
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Others branded the whole thing a ‘joke’ while one accused him of ‘pretending to give a f**k’ about climate change.
Beckham himself is yet to comment publicly on the backlash he’s faced for taking Qatari money to be the country’s ambassador.
Despite several public figures calling him out – such as Joe Lycett and Will Young – he has continued to show up at the World Cup games and cheer on the teams from the VIP box.
The Earthshot Prize is available on BBC iPlayer.
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