When David Beckham appeared on stage at The Earthshot Prize he walked out to rapturous applause but the viewers at home didn’t feel the same way about it. The retired footballer had been in the Middle East for the World Cup before he jetted his way across the globe to America to present a £1m award in the Build a Waste-Free World.
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Hypocrisy
The winners at this year’s Earthshot Prize were asked to attend the event virtually, while David Beckham flew all the way across the globe – more than 6,380 miles away from Qatar – to present the award. This has triggered fans over the internet who believe that Beckham should’ve been ‘nowhere near’ the Earthshot awards.
Despite his cheerful manner and encouraging speech, Twitter users brought up his association with Qatar amid the World Cup. One user wrote:
David Beckham should be nowhere near this, he is literally the ambassador for the World Cup with the biggest ever carbon footprint, absolute hypocrite.
Another person questioned:
Correct me if I'm wrong but, for the Earth thingy thing, did Beckham fly all the way from Qatar to Boston to present a prize to a winner - who wasn't allowed to attend because of the environmental impact - and will now fly back to Qatar to continue with his advocacy for Qataris?
A third added:
Well done guys and so well deserved. Shame David Beckham, ambassador to one of the most oppressive and climate wrecking countries on the planet, flew across the globe to announce it whilst you all stayed at home. He was probably back in Qatar 12 hours later.
While Mailonline reported that another struggled to find sense in it as the fan wrote:
I'm only just clocking on to the fact that winners of the Earthshot Prize were asked to virtually attend the ceremony while royalty & celebrities all flew in to be there in person (don't even get me started on David Beckham flying in from Qatar). Make it make sense! Like, what?!
Beckham in trouble
Some of Beckham’s recent actions haven’t gone down well with his fans after the controversial £10 million deal to be an ambassador for the Middle Eastern nation. He was slammed by people for not stepping down from fulfilling his £10 million Qatar World Cup deal despite immense anger over LGBTQ+ issues and human rights.
He had also previously flown home from Qatar to attend his wife Victoria Beckham’s work Christmas party.
Source used:
Daily Mail: 'He should be nowhere near this!' David Beckham is branded a 'hypocrite' by Earthshot Prize viewers after jetting across the globe from the Qatar World Cup to present an award