Victoria Beckham's advice for son Brooklyn's public appearances unearthed
Following Brooklyn Beckham's bombshell statement about his relationship with his family on Monday, his old comments about his mother's rules for him have resurfaced
Brooklyn Beckham completely broke the Internet on 19 January when he shared his lengthy bombshell statement, finally breaking his silence on the long-rumoured Beckham family feud, accusing his parents of being "controlling".
Since then, many of the family's comments and statements about their dynamic have been unearthed, including Victoria talking about her "very present parenting" in an appearance on a daytime talk show.
Brooklyn Beckham at the launch of Superdry's new flagship store on Oxford Street on November 09, 2021 in London
However, one comment from Brooklyn himself has become particularly revealing in hindsight, as it hints at the dynamic he explored in much more detail with his most recent revelatory post.
In an exclusive interview with HELLO! in 2021, the then-22-year-old spoke to us about following in his mother's footsteps as he dove into the world of fashion from a business perspective for the first time, having been crowned as Superdry's first sustainability ambassador, though the deal turned out to be short-lived.
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He revealed how his parents and then-fiancée Nicola Peltz had influenced his project, calling them his biggest fashion influences, but also spoke about how he and his mother didn't always agree over what he would wear.
"My mum's always been like: 'Oh, wear that or don't wear that', but I've always loved dressing myself," Brooklyn explained. "I've been through so many different and interesting styles. You know, I was into skinny jeans, and then I was into the skater look with the baggy bottoms and a baggy top."
Though this is relatively normal parenting, and at the time read as a typical mother-son dynamic, it bears a slightly stranger taken through the darker lens of Brooklyn's recent statements surrounding his parents' control and curation of the narrative surrounding their children's lives.
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Brooklyn has since accused his parents of being 'controlling'
In his lengthy statement, shared on Instagram stories on 19 January, he outright claimed that he does not want to reconcile with his family, and added: "I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life.
Brooklyn Beckham and Victoria Beckham at the GQ Men Of The Year Awards 2019 at Tate Modern on September 03, 2019 in London
"For 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," he continued.
I have been silent for years and made every effort to keep these matters private. Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me 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. I'm not being controlled, I'm standing up for myself for the first time in my life.
For 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. 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.
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. They 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. 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.' 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. 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.
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.
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.
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.
On the claims that his wife, Nicola Peltz Beckham, controls him, he asserted that the narrative is "completely backwards". He wrote: "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."
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