Unpacking the Beckham Drama: What's Going on With Brooklyn Beckham, Nicola Peltz Beckham and His Family

So, no, Brooklyn wasn't exactly cozying up with his crew around the Christmas tree this year, the couple instead wearing matching holiday pajamas beside her folks.

Though the Beckhams have grown used to their eldest son RSVP-ing no to most family events.

And fingers tend to get pointed at significant others—girlfriends, boyfriends, wives, etc.—when a rift among blood relatives starts to form.

As the eldest of David and Victoria's four kids, now-26-year-old Brooklyn—who knew early on he wouldn't be following in his father's footsteps as a professional soccer player—was logically the first to leave the nest years ago.

The teen with the "Mama's Boy" tattoo on his chest flew all the way to New York to pursue photography, a passion from an early age since his dad gave him his first camera, but only spent a year studying at Parsons School of Design before moving back to the U.K. to be close once again to his family.

Still, Brooklyn has made it clear over the years that he wants to distinguish himself apart from the Beckham name, telling InStyle in June 2024, "I mean, I can't help how I was born. I couldn't ask for better parents and I'm just trying to work my ass off and trying to make a name for myself. That's all I can say, really."

He has more recently leaned into food and his latest venture is spicing up our lives with Cloud23, the hot sauce brand he started with Nicola. The number is inspired both by the day they got engaged, June 23, 2020, and his dad's jersey number playing for the Galaxy and Paris St. Germain.

"I love taking pictures of my wife," Brooklyn told Variety in 2022 of his change in direction. "I still have all my film cameras, but now it’s just more of a fun thing to do. They were kind of all hobbies. I was still trying to find that one thing I would literally die for, and I found that with cooking."

There’s no rule saying you have to say yes to your future mother-in-law’s signature label on your wedding day, but it was widely assumed from outside the planning circle that Nicola Peltz Beckham would wear a Victoria Beckham dress down the aisle when she and Brooklyn Beckham tied the knot in April 2022 at her family’s estate in Palm beach, Fla.

So when she didn’t, going with Valentino Couture instead… Bad blood alert!

Nicola stayed mum on the subject for months before finally saying there was no dress drama, perhaps minus the disappointment when she found out she wouldn’t be able to wear custom VB.

“I was going to and I really wanted to,” Nicola told Variety in August 2022, “and then a few months down the line, she realized that her atelier couldn’t do it, so then I had to pick another dress. She didn’t say you can’t wear it; I didn’t say I didn’t want to wear it. That’s where it started, and then they ran with that.”

Added Brooklyn, “I’ve learned they’re always going to try to write stuff like that. They’re always going to try and put people down. But everyone gets along, which is good.”

Speaking to Grazia the following month, Nicola called the Beckhams “great in-laws.”

Victoria, also not usually one to comment on tabloid stories until way after the fact, called the Peltz-Beckham nuptials “a beautiful wedding.”

“As a mother, to see my son so happy means so much,” she said on TODAY that October. “What more can you ask for?”

Tom Cruise and all four of Victoria’s fellow Spice Girls were at her posh 50th birthday party on April 20, 2024, but her daughter-in-law was not.

Because, Nicola soon made clear on Instagram, she was spending time with her grandmother, who died less than a month later.

In lieu of her presence at the party, Nicola wrote on Instagram, "Happy birthday to my beautiful mil @victoriabeckham i'm so sad i'm not there to celebrate you and hug you. Sending all my love from me and my naunni. I miss you all so much!" (Meanwhile, she had also shouted out Victoria on her actual April 17 birthday, captioning a photo of them together, “i love you so much and love being your dance partner forever."

And Naunni’s passing wasn’t just devastating to Nicola. On May 16, Brooklyn paid tribute on Instagram, writing, “Can’t believe it’s been a year without you naunni x you were always so happy and always made me laugh. I miss you and will love you forever x… it makes me so sad to think of our future kids not being able to know you x you were one of a kind and we miss you everyday.”

Looking back at his “crazy childhood” as the son of a football star and a Spice Girl, Brooklyn told InStyle in June 2024, “I was so happy.”

And while it was admittedly “hectic,” he added, “I have the best mum and dad in the world and it was a lot of fun.”

While Brooklyn and Nicola spent part of the 2024 holiday with the Peltzes, no one needed a visit from the ghosts of Christmas Past or Future: Photos David Beckham, Victoria, Brooklyn and Nicola shared that December showed that all the Beckhams were together in the present.

"Being together for the holidays makes me so happy xxxx I love you all so much," Victoria captioned her carousel of pics, tagging all her kids and her daughter-in-law.

No official reason given as yet, but Brooklyn and Nicola were noticeably absent from the photos his parents posted when family and friends gathered in London to celebrate David's big 5-0 in May 2025.

A source told E! News that the couple went to England, skipping the May 5 Met Gala in the process, "in hopes they could see David and celebrate his birthday with him that week, weekend instead."

An insider told People that it was Brooklyn who put the kibosh on attending David’s party because he didn’t want to see brother Romeo Beckham’s then-girlfriend, DJ Kim Turnbull, who had been popping up at more and more family affairs, including the March 2025 Victoria Beckham show during Paris Fashion Week, since the couple went public with their relationship in November 2024.

However, responding to an Instagram commenter who was speculating as to why Brooklyn felt so strongly about being around Kim that he skipped his dad’s party altogether, youngest brother Cruz Beckham wrote, “Brooklyn and Kim never dated.”

More fuel for the wedding drama fire: The newlyweds’ first dance didn’t go as expected, and it’s extremely unclear why it went down as it allegedly did.

“Brooklyn and Nicola were under the impression they were being gifted their first dance by Marc Anthony,” a source told E! News in May 2025. Instead, the singer announced, “‘Please welcome to the stage the most beautiful woman in the room—Victoria Beckham.’ Brooklyn wasn’t quite sure what to do and was put in an awkward situation.”

Moreover, the source continued, “Nicola left the room crying. She eventually came back and was able to collect herself to celebrate the rest of her wedding.”

The incident wasn’t so disastrous on the groom’s side of the family as to prevent David from being a best man at Marc’s wedding in January 2023, when he married fourth wife Nadia Ferreira. But it’s understandable if the bride had a harder time getting over it.

Brooklyn and Nicola “have made good faith efforts over the years” to have a relationship with his family, the source said, but at this time things aren’t good.

Probably apropos of nothing, though possibly not, Brooklyn called Nicola his “whole world” in a May 2025 Instagram post, writing, “I always choose you baby x you’re the most amazing person I know xx me and you forever baby.”

When the stories get pointed, the pointed-at retain legal counsel. And the May story about Nicola being brought to tears at her own wedding three years ago may have been a harbinger of more to come.

In response to reports that Brooklyn and Nicola had hired a lawyer who has worked with the oft-written-about Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, a source with knowledge confirmed to E! News that the couple do have a lawyer, but not for “reputation management.”

Rather, the source said, they have hired Jenny Afi of U.K. law firm Schillings “to set the record straight, combat spread of misinformation.”

And while the solicitor’s clientele includes the Sussexes, who counted the soon-to-be-knighted David and Victoria among their wedding guests in 2018, “there is absolutely no connection to Meghan and Harry,” the insider added. “Schillings is a respected firm with a wide range of clients.”

Suggesting otherwise, the source said, ironically demonstrated “exactly why one hires legal counsel, to set the record straight and combat the spread of deliberate misinformation.”

When David was awarded a knighthood in November 2025, neither Brooklyn or Nicola publicly commented on the accolade. The couple was also noticeably absent when David's soccer team Inter Miami CF won the MLS Cup in December 2025—with only Victoria, Romeo, Cruz and Harper at the game to celebrate the victory.

After fans noticed that neither David or Victoria were following Brooklyn's Instagram in late December 2025, Cruz shut down speculation that the longtime couple blocked their oldest son on social media.

“NOT TRUE,” he wrote on Instagram Stories. “My mum and dad would never unfollow their son..Let’s get the facts right. They woke up blocked…as did I."

Brooklyn Beckham skipped out on his family's 2025 Christmas celebrations, opting to spend the holiday with wife Nicola's family instead, including her mom Claudia Heffner Peltz and dad Nelson Peltz. Meanwhile, younger brother Cruz spent a cozy holiday at home with his parents.

In David's recap of 2025, the soccer star shared several photos with family and friends from throughout the year. However, not a single one included his eldest son or Brooklyn's wife Nicola amid rumors of their family rift.

Hour later, David shared throwback snapshots of himself with each of his and Victoria's kids, writing over a black-and-white portrait with Brooklyn, "I love you all so much."

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