Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, the eldest child of soccer phenom David Beckham and his fashion mogul wife Victoria, broke his silence Monday night on the long-rumored feud between him and his parents.
In a series of Instagram stories, Beckham accused his parents of controlling him for years, leaking stories to the press, and manipulating the narrative about him and his wife, Nicola Peltz.
NBC News has reached out to David and Victoria Beckham, Brooklyn Peltz Beckham, and Nicola Peltz for comment. On Monday, David Beckham told CNBC his kids have “made mistakes” on social media.
“I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private,” Brooklyn Beckham began the six-part story, before noting that his parents have left him with “no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.”
“I do not want to reconcile with my family,” Brooklyn Beckham continued. “I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”
He went on to say that his parents’ previous social media posts about their family have been performative and that within the family, relationships are “inauthentic.” The eldest Beckham child added that his celebrity parents have pushed “countless lies in the media… to preserve their own facade,” later accusing them of turning his brothers against him.
The lengthy posts are the latest development in the long-standing family feud that has gnawed away at the Beckhams’ attempts to project a perfect family life.
In April 2022, reports in the British media suggested that Nicola Peltz — whom Brooklyn Beckham married in 2022 — had refused to wear one of Victoria Beckham’s designs for her wedding dress. Peltz later denied this, telling British newspaper The Times that Victoria’s atelier could not make it in time.
Brooklyn Beckham’s Instagram post, however, gave a different version of events amid his claims that his parents have been “trying endlessly to ruin” his relationship with Peltz.
In the post, heclaimed Victoria Beckham was set to make Peltz’s wedding dress, but backed out “in the eleventh hour.” Around the same time, he said, his parents pressured him into signing away the rights to his name before he was wed. After he refused, he said, “They have never treated me the same since.”
The night before the wedding, Brooklyn Beckham said family members reminded him that his bride-to-be was “not blood” and “not family,” he wrote.
Brooklyn Beckham also accused his mom of hijacking his first dance with Peltz at the wedding reception. He described a scene in which Marc Anthony called him to the stage for the first dance, which he said had been planned with Peltz for weeks, “but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me.”
“She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone,” he wrote. “I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.”
Brooklyn Beckham will always stand by his wife Nicola Peltz Beckham. On Saturday, May 24, the eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham declared his love for and loyalty to his wife in an Instagram post which featured a video of the couple riding on a motorcycle.
The family’s stories continue to splinter
Rumors of familial strife resurfaced in May last year, when the young couple inexplicably failed to show up at David Beckham’s 50th birthday party, a celebrity-packed dinner in London.
In his Instagram stories, Brooklyn Beckham gave his own explanation for his absence — saying the birthday party was the latest example of his wife being “constantly disrespected by my family.”
Brooklyn Beckham described feeling “rejected” until the lavish party with hundreds of guests, noting that he was only allowed to see his father then, and he was told Peltz was not invited.
“My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else,” he said. “Brand Beckham comes first. Family ‘love’ is decided by how much you post on social media, or how quickly you drop everything to show up and pose for a family photo opp, even if it’s at the expense of our professional obligations.”
Brooklyn Beckham dispelled the longstanding rumor “that my wife controls me,” instead insisting “I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life.” He said he grew up with “overwhelming anxiety” that has disappeared since distancing himself from his family.
“My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation,” Brooklyn Beckham wrote. “All we want is peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.”
Nicola Peltz Beckham and Brooklyn Peltz Beckham just renewed their vows, but fans are pointing out that not everyone in their family appeared to be in attendance for the special moment.
David Beckham refuses to comment
The message lands a colossal dent in the Beckham dynasty, which has swelled from 1990s tabloid fascination into an international behemoth.
Though David Beckham retired 13 years ago, the 50-year-old remains arguably the most famous soccer player on the planet. He was among the first to fuse elite sporting success with a parallel life in fashion, celebrity, and entertainment.
In 1999, he married Victoria Beckham, then more commonly known as “Posh Spice” in The Spice Girls. She has since engineered one of pop culture’s most unlikely second acts: swapping girl-band caricature for the role of global fashion doyenne.
The couple has always been happy to sell access to their most private moments. Pictures of their wedding and Victoria’s pregnancy with Brooklyn were syndicated to OK! magazine. And both David and Victoria have, in recent years, had separate films commissioned by Netflix (2023’s series “Beckham” and last year’s film “Victoria Beckham,” respectively) that were meticulously controlled versions of their family stories.
On Monday, David Beckham declined to answer questions about the Instagram post when asked by Sky News, NBC News’ British partner, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
However, the ex-Manchester United icon did appear to reference the story during an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” at the summit.
“Children are allowed to make mistakes, that’s how they learn,” he said, discussing the use of social media by young people. “You have to sometimes let them make those mistakes.”
Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz have hired a lawyer with connections to the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, as rumored tensions with the Beckham family continue.
