David Beckham has said parents must let their children \u201cmake mistakes\u201d just a day after his son Brooklyn publicly aired his grievances with his family in an Instagram post that drew global media attention.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn, 26, made a host of claims<\/a> regarding the former England footballer and his wife, the singer and fashion designer Victoria Beckham.<\/p>\n In his social media statement<\/a>, Brooklyn said his parents had been controlling narratives in the press about his family and tried to \u201cruin\u201d his relationship with his wife, Nicola Peltz Beckham.<\/p>\n \u201cI do not want to reconcile with my family,\u201d he wrote. \u201cI\u2019m not being controlled, I\u2019m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.<\/p>\n \u201cFor my entire life, my parents have controlled narratives in the press about our family. The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.<\/p>\n \u201cRecently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they\u2019ll go through to place countless lies in the media, mostly at the expense of innocent people, to preserve their own facade. But I believe the truth always comes out.\u201d<\/p>\n David Beckham attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday. Photograph: Rapha\u00ebl Lafargue\/ABACA\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Nicola, who is the daughter of the American billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz and former model Claudia Heffner Peltz, married Brooklyn in 2022. He is the eldest child of the Beckhams, who have two other sons, Cruz and Romeo, and one daughter, Harper.<\/p>\n Speaking on CNBC\u2019s Squawk Box on Tuesday, David Beckham<\/a> did not address the dispute directly but talked circuitously about his children and the dangers of social media.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cI\u2019ve been able to use my platform and my following for Unicef and it\u2019s been the biggest tool to make people aware of what\u2019s going on around the world for children.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve tried to do the same. I\u2019ve tried to do the same with my children to educate them. They make mistakes. Children are allowed to make mistakes. That\u2019s how they learn.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s what I try to teach my kids. But you know, you have to sometimes let them make those mistakes as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn made specific allegations involving his parents\u2019 behaviour on his wedding day in the post.<\/p>\n He said: \u201cMy parents have been trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding, and it hasn\u2019t stopped.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mum cancelled making Nicola\u2019s dress in the 11th hour despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress.<\/p>\n \u201cWeeks before our big day, my parents repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name, which would have affected me, my wife and our future children.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were adamant on me signing before my wedding date because then the terms of the deal would be initiated. My holdout affected the payday and they have never treated me the same since.<\/p>\n \u201cDuring the wedding planning, my mum went so far as to call me \u2018evil\u2019 because Nicola and I chose to include my Nanny Sandra, and Nicola\u2019s Nanny at our table, because they both didn\u2019t have their husbands. Both of our parents had their own tables equally adjacent to ours.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn and Nicola Peltz Beckham married in 2022. Photograph: Aude Guerrucci\/Reuters<\/p>\n The statement continued: \u201cSince the moment I started standing up for myself with my family, I\u2019ve received endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.<\/p>\n \u201cEven my brothers were sent to attack me on social media, before they ultimately blocked me out of nowhere this last summer.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn went on to claim that his mother \u201chijacked\u201d his first dance with Nicola and danced \u201cinappropriately on me\u201d in front of their guests, adding that he had never felt more \u201cuncomfortable or humiliated\u201d in his life.<\/p>\n He also alleged that his wife had been \u201cdisrespected\u201d by his family and was not invited to his father\u2019s 50th birthday party.<\/p>\n Brooklyn continued: \u201cMy family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first. Family \u2018love\u2019 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\u2019s at the expense of our professional obligations.<\/p>\n \u201cThe narrative that my wife controls me is completely backwards. I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life.<\/p>\n \u201cI grew up with overwhelming anxiety. For the first time in my life, since stepping away from my family, that anxiety has disappeared. I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose and have found peace and relief.<\/p>\n \u201cMy wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press or manipulation. All we want is peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.\u201d<\/p>\n Brooklyn has previously dabbled in photography and cooking, having released a book of snapshots called What I See<\/a> in 2017 and a hot sauce brand, Cloud23, in 2024. He has also posted videos of his cooking to social media.<\/p>\n