Brooklyn Beckham took to Instagram addressing reported family tensions. In multiple stories on the app, the eldest of the Beckham’s children exposed his parents’ self-interest behind the family’s “perfect” image; likely striking a chord with many families across the UK.

‘Performative’ and ‘controlled narratives’

Social media has always been a double-edged sword, with many of its users feeling pressured to give off the image of ‘perfection’ with their choice of posts. After all, it’s unlikely that people are going to open up their whole lives to public scrutiny. A feeling that Brooklyn Beckham shared until last night, when he felt compelled to confront the false portrayal of their relationship.

Brooklyn’s statement goes on to say:

My parents have been trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding, and it hasn’t stopped. My mum cancelled making Nicola’s dress in the eleventh hour despite how excited she was to wear her design, forcing her to urgently find a new dress. Weeks 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.

The Beckham’s self-interest and lack of compassion is on full display throughout their son’s statement, but this takes the biscuit:

During the wedding planning, my mum went so far as to call me ‘evil’ because Nicola and I chose to include my Nanny Sandra, and Nicola’s Naunni at our table, because they both didn’t have their husbands. Both of our parents had their own tables equally adjacent to ours.

The night before our wedding, members of my family told me that Nicola was ‘not blood’ and ‘not family.’

And Victoria was not up for sharing the limelight with her daughter-in-law, seemingly ‘marking her territory’ on their big day:

My mum hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic love song.

In front of our 500 wedding guests, Marc Anthony called me to the stage, where in the schedule was planned to be my romantic dance with my wife but instead my mum was waiting to dance with me instead.

She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life. We wanted to renew our vows so we could create new memories of our wedding day that bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment.

https://t.co/FyGjyOqFNZ pic.twitter.com/NHoolPkZYF

— Tom (@allmoshnopit) January 19, 2026

Contrary to the Beckham family’s carefully curated social media pages, their eldest son shines a light on the newly married couple feeling isolated, repeatedly offended, and disrespected by his parents.

My wife has been consistently disrespected by my family, no matter how hard we’ve tried to come together as one. My mum has repeatedly invited women from my past into our lives in ways that were clearly intended to make us both uncomfortable.

Despite this, we still travelled to London for my dad’s birthday and were rejected for a week as we waited in our hotel room trying to plan quality time with him. He refused all of our attempts, unless it was at his big birthday party with a hundred guests and cameras at every corner.

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 LA, they refused to see me at all.

Brand first, family…. when the camera’s on

My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else. Brand Beckham comes first. 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.

“We’ve gone out of our way for years to show up and support at every fashion show, every party, and every press activity to show ‘our perfect family’. But the one time my wife asked for my mum’s support to save displaced dogs during the LA fires, my mum refused.

Many of us know what it’s like to escape toxic parents. By controlling the narrative and isolating their child, they end up just proving the child right:

Since the moment I started standing up for myself with my family, I’ve received endless attacks from my parents, both privately and publicly, that were sent to the press on their orders.

Even my brothers were sent to attack me on social media, before they ultimately blocked me out of nowhere this last Summer.

“Brooklyn Beckham has been commodified since he was a foetus. The story of Victoria’s pregnancy was sold by his parents. When he was born, David and Victoria sold the first pictures of him. They sold intimate looks around their home and his nursery.” https://t.co/TucJne2aL0

— Jessica Wilkins (@JessicaFWilkins) January 20, 2026

Protect your peace, Brooklyn

Our society has become increasingly toxic. The worst of human behaviours continue to be normalised, with hate and vitriol at every corner. It comes then as no surprise that the famous pair are more concerned about being the centre of attention and their public image, than the quality of their actual relationship with their first-born. We all read the reports of the footballer father begging for a knighthood, feeling angry that the king had had the audacity to not ‘pick him’. As the article points out, he’s been a walking red flag for many reasons:

However, his aspirations were likely thwarted by a revealing book on his tax dealings released this summer. Authored by Tom Bower, the book describes Beckham as “money obsessed” and details his efforts to legally reduce his UK tax payments.

Nevertheless, it appears Brooklyn has now found peace, after a lifetime of ‘overwhelming anxiety’:

The narrative that my wife controls me is completely backwards. I have been controlled by my parents for most of my life. I 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. My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation. All we want peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family.

Good for you, lad.

Featured image via the Canary

By Maddison Wheeldon

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