As people across social media take sides in the Beckham family feud, one person who once worked for patriarch David Beckham — and who got to know the legendary athlete pretty well, as she has alleged — has come down in favor of his son, Brooklyn Beckham, for “standing up for himself” and revealing what his famous parents “can be like.”
According to the Daily Mail, Rebecca Loos, David Beckham’s former personal assistant, had a few things to say about the long-simmering family drama, which exploded into public view Monday after 26-year-old Brooklyn Beckham posted a lacerating take-down of his parents on Instagram. The once-aspiring soccer player and photographer-turned aspiring chef said his father and mother had been “controlling” all his life, accusing them of caring more about “brand Beckham” than about the welfare of him and his three younger siblings.
Brooklyn Beckham also alleged that his parents tried to undermine his relationship with his wife, actor and heiress Nicola Peltz, by calling her “evil” and with Victoria Beckham allegedly attempting to sabotage their April 2022 wedding by backing out of designing the bride’s gown and by dancing with him “inappropriately” at the reception.
Loos, who once claimed to have had an affair with the married David Beckham, wrote on Instagram: “So happy he is standing up for himself and speaking publicly finally!!!!” the Daily Mail reported.
“I have felt so bad for his poor wife, knowing too well what they can be like!” she also said.
Loos was responding to a fan who suggested she might “feel a source of extra validation” by reading Brooklyn Beckham’s unflattering assessment of his parents. In response, Loos also said: “The truth always comes out.” She appeared to be mirroring Brooklyn Beckham’s own words in his six-part Instagram statement when he wrote: “I believe the truth always come out.”
Loos, who now lives in Norway with her husband and children, shot to global notoriety in 2004 when she claimed to have had an affair with Beckham, who was her boss at the time and who was married, the Daily Mail reported. Beckham always denied the affair allegations, and dismissed the rumors in the couple’s 2003 Netflix show, “Beckham.” At the time, Loos shrugged off Beckham’s denials as him “trying to portray an image of perfection that was nothing like reality,” the Daily Mail reported.
The Beckham brand has indeed relied on David and Beckham presenting themselves as proud parents of four happy children: Brooklyn, Romeo, 23, Cruz, 20, and Harper, 14. Brooklyn Beckham challenged that image in his post by, among other things, saying that he and his wife traveled to the UK to attend his father’s 50th birthday celebrations. But Brooklyn claimed that his repeated requests to see his father before the trip were ignored. “When he finally agreed to see me, it was under the condition that Nicola wasn’t invited.” Brooklyn Beckham said.
“I do not want to reconcile with my family,” Brooklyn Beckham said. “I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”
Brooklyn Beckham also said: “The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into. Recently, I have seen with my own eyes the lengths that they’ll 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.”
David Beckham perhaps responded to his son’s Instagram post during an interview Tuesday with CNBC’s Squawk Box, The Guardian reported. He did not address his son’s allegations directly but used the interview to speak more generally about his children and the dangers of social media.
“I’ve been able to use my platform and my following for UNICEF, and it’s been the biggest tool to make people aware of what’s going on around the world for children,” Beckham said. “I’ve tried to do the same. I’ve tried to do the same with my children to educate them. They make mistakes. Children are allowed to make mistakes. That’s how they learn.
“So that’s what I try to teach my kids,” Beckham also said. “But you know, you have to sometimes let them make those mistakes as well.”