As David and Victoria Beckham chose to ignore son Brooklyn’s wishes last week, insiders tell Closer that the 27-year-old has had enough…
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Posting a bombshell statement earlier this year, Brooklyn Beckham made it clear that he’s not interested in reconciling with his family. His sensational outburst came after the aspiring chef reportedly sent a legal notice to his parents, Victoria and David, instructing them to only communicate through lawyers and to stop tagging or mentioning him on social media.
So when his estranged family shared a series of tributes for his 27th birthday on Instagram last week, it apparently left Brooklyn ‘fuming’.
An insider tells Closer, ‘For Brooklyn, those posts crossed a boundary – he felt they were more about image than about him. He thinks they were shared for the public… but Brooklyn feels the posts ruined his day and that they turned his birthday back into a public spectacle. He sees it as harassment.’
Victoria and David are estranged from their son ©Neil Mockford/GC Images
Sharing childhood photos of Brooklyn, David used his eldest son’s nickname, Buster, as he wrote, ‘27 today. Happy Birthday Bust. We love you.’ Wife Victoria, 51, shared the same photo and wrote, ‘Happy birthday Brooklyn, we love you so much,’ before uploading a photo of herself and her son, accompanied by a string of heart emojis.
Even Brooklyn’s estranged brothers reached out. Romeo, 23, posted his own childhood throwback snap with his sibling, and while Brooklyn had failed to acknowledge his 21st birthday in February, Cruz shared a photo and told Brooklyn, ‘I love you.’
Over in LA, however, it was radio silence from Brooklyn – who instead celebrated with wife of almost four years, Nicola Peltz. Sharing a video to her 3.4m Instagram followers, the actress, 31, showed how she’d decorated their home with three huge balloons that matched his initials, and a box of doughnuts.
Brooklyn celebrated his birthday with wife Nicola ©Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for Vogue
‘Happy birthday baby,’ she wrote. ‘I hope all your dreams and wishes come true! You light up every room you walk into and anyone who knows you loves you. You’re the most special human and I love being your wife. I love you.’ While our source says the Beckhams didn’t directly wish him a happy birthday, Brooklyn’s maternal grandmother, Jackie Adams – who Closer previously reported has still been in contact with him – called her grandson.
‘They’ve always had a close relationship and Jackie’s trying to keep the peace. She urged him to bury the hatchet – she wants the family back together,’ the insider continues. ‘Jackie knows how deeply Victoria is hurting but what people often overlook is that Brooklyn is hurting too. None of this has been easy for him, these are not decisions he has taken lightly and there are moments when he feels the weight of it all.
‘Right now, he feels that putting space between himself and the family will give everyone the time they need to process what’s happened and deal with it properly. But when David and Victoria keep publicly posting about him, it makes that healing much harder. All Brooklyn wants is to be left alone. He needs time to recover mentally. In his view, the best thing his parents could do is simply take a step back.’
The Beckham feud reached boiling point last year ©Kayla Oaddams/WireImage
The Beckham feud is said to have begun around the time of Brooklyn and Nicola’s 2022 wedding, but reached boiling point last year. Noticeably taking a step back from his family, Brooklyn missed events and holidays, including David’s 50th birthday celebrations and receiving his knighthood. Nicola and Brooklyn also failed to invite the Beckhams to their vow renewal last August – with the family apparently finding out about it via social media.
The fallout culminated in Brooklyn’s shock statement in January. Among many damning allegations – including that Victoria ‘inappropriately hijacked’ his first dance with Nicola – came his declaration that ‘Brand Beckham comes first’ and ‘my family values public promotion and endorsements above all else’. He went on, ‘The performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships have been a fixture of the life I was born into.’
Despite his words – and legal threats – the Beckhams haven’t ceased their futile attempts to reach out to him online. On Valentine’s Day, Victoria re-shared his 14-year-old sister Harper’s post, where she shared a picture of her elder siblings and called them ‘the best big brothers in the whole wide world’.
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Although Brooklyn claimed in his statement that his younger brothers ‘were sent to attack me on social media before they ultimately blocked me’ – as it was previously reported that the ‘blocking’ was in retaliation to the Peltz-Beckhams unfollowing Romeo and Cruz on Instagram – last week, the youngest Beckham boy said he ‘hopes to’ repair their relationship.
For now, our insider says that Brooklyn needs a breather. ‘He still values family, but he wants relationships that feel genuine. His birthday celebration reflected that shift; instead of a celebrity- filled gathering, it was a private moment between husband and wife. It was very low key – exactly how he wanted it. Brooklyn’s trying to create a life where things are real.’