The Beckham family feud has gone public.
In a burn-every-bridge-style series of Instagram stories posted on Monday afternoon, Brooklyn Beckham accused his parents, David and Victoria Beckham, of lying, manipulating the public via the press, coercing him and “trying endlessly to ruin” his marriage to actor Nicola Peltz.
“I do not want to reconcile with my family,” wrote the eldest child of the superstar football player and former Spice Girl turned fashion designer. “I’m not being controlled. I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”
This is an astonishing statement of accusations, but it’s just the latest (if the most public and detailed) twist in a long-simmering family feud. If you haven’t been following the ultra-famous British family’s interpersonal drama, here’s what’s been going on.
Who is Brooklyn Beckham, and why is he angry at David and Victoria?
Brooklyn Beckham is the 26-year-old son of David and Victoria Beckham. He’s the baby delivered via C-Section that earned the former Spice Girl cruel tabloid headlines claiming she was “too posh to push.” He’s tried on a few careers for size so far — photographer, chef, model — but none seems to have stuck.
There have been rumours of trouble between the Beckhams and their eldest son for several years now. They date to 2022, around the time when Brooklyn married Nicola Peltz, an American actor and daughter of a billionaire. The New York Post’s gossip site Page Six claimed there was a “cold war” raging between Nicola and Victoria, quoting sources saying the two women “can’t stand each other.”
The wedding dress was particularly scrutinized: Eyebrows were raised when Nicola wore custom Valentino rather than a design by her mother-in-law, who has her own fashion label. When asked about the feud rumours later that year, Nicola denied them, saying tabloids had created a false narrative and that she wanted to wear a Victoria Beckham dress, but the atelier wasn’t able to turn it around in time.
Another key point of contention seemed to be the mother-son dance, with Nicola said to have been seen crying after Victoria was called to the dance floor by singer Marc Anthony as “the most beautiful woman in the room tonight.”
Why are we talking about the Beckham family drama now?
For about two years, the family presented a harmonious front: Brooklyn and Nicola sat front row at Victoria’s fashion show in 2023; they all celebrated the holidays together.
At the beginning of 2024, however, things seemed to change. Brooklyn and Nicola weren’t at David’s 50th birthday celebrations. TMZ claimed he and his younger brother Romeo had fallen out and that Brooklyn objected to someone he was dating.
People magazine — an outlet celebrities tend to approach when they want to steer a narrative via anonymous sources — quoted “insiders” who seemed to be speaking for the Beckham Senior camp. In May, we heard that “the relationship is definitely not beyond repair. They love and are always there for him. They’re just hurt and disappointed that he’s now playing no part in family life.”
In August, David and Victoria reportedly weren’t at Brooklyn and Nicola’s vow renewals, and by December the Peltz-Beckhams had unfollowed all the other Beckhams, and vice versa, on social media. Posts show that they spent Christmas separately, too, and David didn’t include his oldest son in a single photo of his 20-image “year in review” post. Romeo snubbed him in a similar fashion.
What has Brooklyn said about his parents?
In his lengthy Instagram Stories posts on Monday, Brooklyn airs a laundry list of grievances against his parents.
“I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private,” he writes. “Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed.”
He goes on to describe his parents’ “performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships,” and writes that David and Victoria have “placed countless lies in the media” to “preserve their own facade.”
He writes that weeks before the wedding, his parents “attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name,” alluding to a “deal” that his refusal scuppered. “My holdout affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since.”
What did Brooklyn say about the tensions at his wedding?
Brooklyn writes that his parents have tried “endlessly” to ruin his relationship with Peltz, and describes in detail some of the tensions at the wedding. Referring to the wedding dress situation, he says Victoria “cancelled making Nicola’s dress in the eleventh hour despite how excited she was to wear her design.”
He also specifically addresses the mother-son dance rumours, claiming Victoria hijacked his and Nicola’s first dance. “She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life,” he wrote.
Brooklyn claims that the couple’s decision to seat two grandparents at the bridal table led Victoria to call him “evil,” despite the fact that both his mother and father and the mother and father of the bride had their own adjacent tables. The night before the wedding, he says, members of his family told him Nicola was “not family.”
He describes a campaign by Victoria to “disrespect” Nicola, including inviting “women from my past into our lives in ways that were clearly intended to make us both uncomfortable.”
What has Brooklyn said about the rest of the Beckham family?
Brooklyn writes that “I’ve received endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.” He claims that his brothers were “sent to attack me on social media.” This seems to be a reference to when Cruz Beckham took to Instagram on Dec. 21 to claim that Brooklyn was the one who blocked his family, not vice versa. “My mum and dad would never unfollow their son … Let’s get the facts right. They woke up blocked … as did I.”
When it comes to missing David’s birthday celebrations, Brooklyn claims that the couple travelled to London and waited for a week to see his father, but he “rejected” their attempts. “When he finally agreed to see me, it was under the condition that Nicola wasn’t invited. It was a slap in the face. Later, when my family travelled to L.A., they refused to see me at all.”
Perhaps Brooklyn’s most damning indictment is on what he calls “Brand Beckham,” and the “perfect family” façade they present.
“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,” he says. “The narrative that my wife controls me is completely backwards. I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life.”
He concludes by saying that he has “grown up with overwhelming anxiety,” which has gone since he stepped away from his family.
“My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation,” he writes. “All we want [is] peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.”
