Brooklyn Beckham ‘may have just substituted one daddy for another’

It’s been less than three months since Brooklyn Beckham aired out his family’s dirty laundry. January 19th of this year, Brooklyn posted a series of Instagram Stories where he went on the record and detailed the reasons for his larger falling out with his parents. I was on Brooklyn’s side, and I’m still on his side. I don’t think Brooklyn is going to change the world with his hot sauce empire, but I appreciate the fact that he’s standing up for himself, his wife Nicola Peltz and their marriage. It’s the most grown-up thing he’s done, and you can tell that his parents don’t know how to react because their response, for months now, has been variations of “27-year-old Brooklyn needs to leave his wife and come back to mommy and daddy!” After the initial rush of tabloid BS, it’s actually been somewhat calm around the Beckham situation for the past month or so. I suspect that Brooklyn has just cut off all communication with David and Victoria, and they’ve stopped trying to talk to him via the tabloids or social media. Well, The Cut has a long-read piece about the Battle of the Beckhams, and there’s some new info in here. Some highlights:

The 2022 Peltz-Beckham wedding: It was a luxury fairy tale, perfectly planned and executed — until the vows, when the elderly rabbi called Brooklyn “David.” He stuttered and asked for forgiveness; he was a soccer fan, the rabbi said. He made the mistake only once more before the ceremony was over. It was, as one witness described it, uncomfortably Oedipal. On the brink of his new life, during his moment in the Florida sun, Brooklyn still couldn’t get away from his dad.

Peltz vs. Beckham: The two dynasties in this saga may seem equally matched. In fact, they are worlds apart: While the Peltzes don’t have the notoriety of their in-laws, they are estimated to be almost three times as rich; their fortune makes the Beckhams look middle class. They have political connections to the elite within the elite. The clash is a distinctly modern parable about the only power sources that matter anymore — money and clout — and which one inevitably wins. At its center is a chronic failson who ironically has never been more famous. “Everybody in Palm Beach is on the Peltz side, obviously,” R. Couri Hay, the society publicist, tells me. “But I’m afraid Brooklyn may have just substituted one daddy for another.”

The performance of Brand Beckham: “‘The children, the children’ — it’s such a part of the narrative,” a person who once worked with the family says. “David as a family man, Victoria as a mom. Victoria and David love their kids. But there is a reason why Harper is always somewhere near David’s side. That picture works. And they know it.”

Nicola is the favorite child: Nicola, 31, is not the youngest Peltz child; her twin brothers, Zach and Greg, just turned 23. But she is the undisputed favorite, her model mother’s “mini-me” who inherited her delicate, elfin features and light eyes. She often posts an old photo of Claudia putting lipstick on her as a young girl standing in the aisle of a private jet. “The entire family revolves around Nicola. The brothers follow her everywhere,” someone who has spent time with the Peltzes told me.

Nelson Peltz invested in Brooklyn’s business: In turn, the Beckhams all gathered at a London Whole Foods to support Brooklyn’s next food-fluencing venture: Cloud 23, a high-end hot sauce in a “sexy” bottle named for one of David’s football-jersey numbers. Nelson gave him more than business advice; he ultimately invested in the project along with Brooklyn’s father.

Brooklyn’s name rights: Brooklyn’s statement listed a few new [grievances], including that his parents had attempted to “bribe” him into signing away the rights to his name on the eve of his wedding. “My holdout affected the payday, and they have never treated me the same since,” he claimed, referring to David’s Authentic Brands Group deal. (A source with knowledge of the situation says this was a standard “co-existence agreement,” freeing him, instead, to sell his own Beckham products without fear of a lawsuit. “The deal was already done; it didn’t influence the payday,” the source says.)

Victoria’s inappropriate dance with Brooklyn at his wedding: The Beckham camp is adamant that the last part is utterly untrue. “It absolutely wasn’t like that,” the source close to the family said. “David and the rest of the siblings joined quickly after. It was a fun, light moment.” Gordon Ramsay took to The Sun to say he saw nothing “salacious” or “inappropriate” at the wedding. On the other hand, DJ Fat Tony, who played at the after-party, came out on British daytime TV to back up Brooklyn. Though he insists he witnessed the dance, a person at the wedding told me he wasn’t in the room for the alleged faux pas. Other guests I spoke to said if there had been an uncomfortable dance, they didn’t hear about it or see it. Peltz Beckham sources say they have a video but will never show it.

Everyone agrees that Nicola cried at her wedding: Nicola did run out of the room crying — there is no doubt on either side that she was offended by something during Anthony’s appearance. “It was obvious that Nicola couldn’t bear Victoria being onstage rather than her,” says the same source close to the family. And even if she had felt slighted, is it something to hold on to for years? Sources close to the Beckhams claim they consistently offer to meet Brooklyn and Nicola in any way they desire — with lawyers, the Peltz parents, siblings, a therapist, a mediator — and are desperate to repair the relationship. Peltz Beckham supporters say Victoria and David have always had an unhealthy obsession with fame, and the dance was indicative of their inability to let anyone else be the center of attention, even for one night.

Brooklyn is freeing himself: “Those kids were trained to pose in photos before anything else,” the person who worked for the family says. Now Brooklyn has used Brand Beckham’s own playbook — managed engagement — to free himself. When reached by New York, a spokesperson for the couple said, “Despite repeated attempts to find common ground and satisfy family expectations, the cycle of false narratives has persisted. They know their truth, and if others prefer to prioritize tabloid reports over reality, they are at peace with that and are simply done answering to it.” Representatives for David and Victoria Beckham declined to comment.

Brooklyn is simply happy with Nicola: For the moment, Brooklyn seems content to live as a nearly full-time wife guy. Nicola bought them a new $16 million house in Beverly Hills in 2024. They have been vacationing in Montecito and drinking $2,000 bottles of wine. The hostage situation, if it is one, doesn’t seem so bad. Though Brooklyn has some paid appearances in his schedule, like cooking for an Airbnb experience and attending a restaurant opening in Las Vegas, I’ve heard he mostly drives Nicola around. When she travels for filming, he goes with her. Someone who recently worked an event with him said he was sweet but left as soon as he could: “Dude is in love. He was like, ‘I have to go hang out with my wife.’”

[From The Cut]

That last part is important – this family beef has been treated like everyone is jockeying for position and it’s all about power and money. When the simple truth is, in my opinion, that the root of the Beckhams’ anger towards Brooklyn is that he’s in love, and his wife and marriage are his biggest priorities now. He’s thrilled that he’s with someone who doesn’t need him to be the breadwinner or the hustler. He WANTS to drive Nicola around and cook for her and take care of their dogs. He’s living his dream life. And his parents can’t stand that Brooklyn is content to be a house-husband and hot-sauce guy.

This is insane, btw: “It was obvious that Nicola couldn’t bear Victoria being onstage rather than her…” AT NICOLA’S WEDDING! The bride was mad that the mother-of-the-groom was called “the most beautiful woman in the room” and that Victoria grinded on Brooklyn during a wedding dance. Victoria is out of her f–king mind.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Nicola’s Instagram. Cover courtesy of Vogue.