'Like dropping an atomic bomb': Why the Beckham feud is like no celebrity story we've seen before

OPINION -- In the world of celebrity, there is nothing quite like a good old family spat.

We have all seen them, heard them, read about them. Prince Harry, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan and others have all been at the centre of family dramas.

But none, and I mean none, have exploded as spectacularly as what we have seen this morning following the dramatic escalation of the feud involving Brooklyn Beckham and his parents, David and Victoria.

Brooklyn Beckham has today fired off a very public salvo – a direct hit on his family, but at the heart of the tirade is a nepo baby gone mad.

First, some background.

You would have to have been living under a rock not to have known things were not well in the Beckham world.

Whispers had been growing for a year that David and Victoria's eldest son Brooklyn, and his actress wife Nicole Peltz, were no longer on speaking terms with the Beckham clan.

READ MORE: Brooklyn Beckham breaks silence on family feud

READ MORE: Brooklyn claims Victoria Beckham 'hijacked' his wedding

READ MORE: The first sign trouble was brewing for the Beckhams

Tales of wedding dress drama, bridal dances being ruined, fallouts with the Beckham brothers over girlfriends and the fact the Beckham Peltzes, as they are known, were absent from key events such as David's 50th birthday parties and knighthood ceremony, had dominated news headlines in recent months.

While the main players remained silent – apart from through the words of some well-placed 'sources', an Instagram Story by a clearly fed-up brother, Cruz, who said he and his parents woke up to find themselves 'blocked' by Brooklyn, and Brooklyn's own very cryptic but telling Instagram posts – the main players had remained silent.

Until now.

In the early hours of this morning (AEST), about 10am Monday in Los Angeles, where the Beckham Peltzes live, Brooklyn did something that was akin to dropping an atomic bomb on the carefully curated image of his parents.

Over six pages which were uploaded to his Instagram Story, Brooklyn not only gave a blow-by-blow account of what had happened over the past almost four years since he and Nicola tied the knot, but did so in a way to inflict maximum hurt on his family.

He had been "silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private", he wrote, before accusing his parents and their 'team' of continually going to the press, leaving him with "no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed".

"I do not want to reconcile with my family," he continued.

"I'm not being controlled. I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life."

He then let loose with a list of complaints about his parents, who he said had "controlled narratives in the press about our family" for "my entire life".

He dissed their "performative social media posts, family events and inauthentic relationships", and accused his parents of "trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding".

Brooklyn fired off round after round. He said his parents "repeatedly pressured and attempted to bribe me into signing away the rights to my name".

But the most most scathing attacks were directed at his mother, who he said "cancelled making Nicola's [wedding] dress at the eleventh hour", and the biggest salvo: that Victoria had in fact hijacked the first dance meant for the bride and groom so she could dance with her firstborn son.

"She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everyone," he wrote, adding, "I've never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life".

I can only imagine he has never looked at his own Instagram feed, which features him burning food and calling it 'cooking', but I digress.

His second wedding ceremony, which his family was not invited to, was, he explained, a chance to "bring us joy and happiness, not anxiety and embarrassment".

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His wife, he complained, had been "consistently disrespected by my family". He accused his mum of "repeatedly inviting women from my past into our lives" to make them both uncomfortable.

He said they had in fact travelled to London to celebrate his dad's 50th birthday, but the only option to see him was at his high-profile birthday party and he was told not to bring Nicola. He also claims his family refused to see him in LA.

Brooklyn said his parents put "brand Beckham" as he called it, "above all else", but while he said they had often supported his family, his mother wouldn't do the same for Nicola when she asked for her support for dogs displaced by the LA fires.

Yes, you read correctly, the long wondered about straw that broke the camel's back was not Victoria reportedly grinding on her son at his wedding, or family members pointing out Nicola was "not family" on their wedding eve, but Victoria's apparent refusal to post about dogs on her Instagram feed.

His wife was not controlling him, he said. He was simply breaking away from the parents who had controlled him "for most of my life".

"My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press or manipulation," he ended the rant.

"All we want [sic] peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family."

I have a few problems with Brooklyn's statement, including the last comment.

His call for privacy when he has 16 million Instagram followers – clearly built on the Beckham name – and posts on an almost daily basis is one of them.

His wife has about 3 million followers and is accustomed to posting multiple times each day.

Among this week's posts was one devoted to her own mother, whom she said was "the most beautiful human inside and out".

For someone who says he wanted to avoid a public fallout with his parents, he has been on the offensive lately, making numerous references to choosing his wife above all others, and naming her the hardest working person he knows – a clear dig at his parents, who are not B-grade actors, but run globally recognised businesses after hugely successful careers in showbusiness and sport.

Speaking of which, it was those respective careers that gave the couple the riches to raise their first-born son in the manner to which he has become accustomed and allowed him to dabble in careers such as football (failed), photography (failed) and now cooking (I reckon we can agree it failed), while driving a $2 million sportscar he most definitely didn't buy on his income.

Then there is his other career as an entrepreneur – a job title coveted by rich kids and nepo babies to cover for the fact they are unemployed.

His hot sauce brand, Cloud23, was launched in 2024 – more than two years after the aforementioned wedding from hell – yet its name includes a pretty famous reference to his father – '23' is the jersey number Sir David wore while playing for the iconic Real Madrid and later, LA Galaxy.

Why would someone name a brand after a father who has by all intents and purposes, spent years trying to ruin his son's life?

Then there is the fact Brooklyn claims it is his parents alone who have been planting stories in the press.

But for years we had read stories about the wedding dress, and even the incident whereby Victoria supposedly had Marc Anthony help her hijack the wedding dance.

Why would the Beckhams plant stories in the press that clearly painted themselves in such a bad light?

I am by no means purely "Team Beckham", even if it comes across that way. But I am "Team Truth" and I am definitely "Team Accountability".

So Brooklyn, if you read this, it's time to walk the walk and talk the talk.

If it is privacy you crave; please take a break from social media, both yours and your wife's.

If you don't want your private family drama played out in the press, don't stoke the fire with your social media posts, or plant stories about your parents.

If you don't want to reconcile with your parents, drop the 'Beckham' and embrace the 'Peltz' you so publicly added to your name following your wedding.

And maybe stop accepting handouts from others – first your parents and now your wife's billionaire folks.

Get a job, and stand on your own two feet, and one day, just maybe, you will stop biting the hand that fed you for all those years.

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