Brooklyn Beckham ‘broke down in tears at Glastonbury as he opened up on the pressure of being David and Victoria’s son’
BROOKLYN Beckham broke down in tears at Glastonbury over the pressures of being the son of David and Victoria, it has been claimed.
Former Sun man Gordon Smart addressed Brooklyn’s bombshell statement this week in which he torched his relationship with his parents, who he claims “controlled” his life growing up and valued their brand over family.
He recalled a time his wife spent with Brooklyn at the iconic festival in Somerset and how they bonded over childhoods lived in their famous parents’ shadows.
Speaking on the Mail’s Whistleblowers podcast, Gordon revealed his wife Kate, who went to the same college as Victoria in Surrey, struggled with her footballer dad Jim Leishman’s life in the public eye.
He explained: “My wife’s dad was a famous football guy in the eighties and nineties.
“There was a moment where he left Dunfermline, there was a huge protest about him leaving the club. The family had to go into a safe house at one point. It was a really big thing in Scottish football at the time.
READ MORE ON THE BECKHAMS
BECK TO NORMAL
Romeo Beckham & girlfriend put on brave face after Brooklyn’s shock claims
GOT YOUR BECK
Brooklyn & Nicola put on united front on first outing since attack on family
“My wife she’s lived in the shadow of her dad, who’s a huge personality, Jim Leishman. A very flamboyant guy. It has been hard for her to cope with at certain points in her life.”
Gordon told how, as a young girl, Kate was one of the first people to have Dunfermline’s then new kit, but her dad made her give it to another fan while on holiday, leaving her “gutted”.
It was because of this background that a bond was formed at the festival.
“We once ended up on this Glastonbury trip with the Beckhams,” Gordon told Mark Clattenburg and Ian Ladyman. “And my wife spent a lot of it with Brooklyn. They had this bond together.
“Even though it’s nowhere near the same level, they knew how each other felt living in the shadow of a famous parent. They really hit it off. Brooklyn got quite tearful and open about a lot of the stuff that was going on.
“I came away from it all thinking: is it really worth the money. Would you take all that money and fame? I don’t know.”
The latest on Brooklyn’s seismic statement…
Gordon didn’t have a bad word to say against David’s parenting. He recalled an event that David arrived at an hour early so he could take his daughter Harper to school and said the ex-footballer was never anything but personable.
He shared anecdotes of the times they had together at the height of David playing career, like when they were in neighbouring rooms at a plush Las Vegas hotel.
The ex-showbiz editor heard a couple ‘enjoying themselves’ during the night and then bumped into a sheepish Becks the next morning, who joked, “it had to be you”, when he realised who had overheard his bedroom antics.
Overnight, we exclusively revealed Brooklyn and wife Nicola Peltz feel relieved to get things out in the open, after the aspiring chef made a string of incendiary accusations.
A source close to the California-based pair said: “They couldn’t be happier with how things have panned out.
“They told us, ‘We’re glad we did it’.
“They feel like a massive weight has been lifted off them and they’re pleased with the support they’ve received.
“It’s been therapeutic to finally get things off their chests which they’ve been bottling up for years.
“This has just made things even clearer to him — he wants nothing more to do with his parents.”
The Sun understands they have not heard from David, 50, and Victoria, 51, since Brooklyn posted Monday’s sensational six-part salvo on Instagram.
They were previously warned via a legal letter that they should not contact him directly, and he later blocked them on Instagram.
This week, Brooklyn, 26, and Nicola, 31, have been holed up in a hideaway in Malibu, around 20 miles from their £12million Beverly Hills mansion.
But they broke cover on Wednesday to take a stroll on the beach with rescue dog Lamb.
Brooklyn, who married Nicola in Florida in 2022, blew his rumbling family feud wide open with his Instagram statement, which included claims that his parents were obsessed with publicity.
The fallout continued yesterday, with his brother Cruz, 20, teasing a song believed to be about his older sibling’s estrangement.
The fledgling musician shared a post on Instagram of a lyric sheet titled “Loneliest Boy”, which he wrote last year.
Meanwhile, Nicola was branded fame-hungry by the family of her model ex Anwar Hadid, who she dated from 2017 to 2018.
His sister Alana, 40, ridiculed Brooklyn’s plea for privacy in his statement.
The Beckhams will be in a tailspin – here’s why there is no going back
By Ellie Henman
Brooklyn Beckham has delivered what can only be described as the single most damaging blow ever to David and Victoria Beckham, albeit the whole Beckham family, with that explosive statement. But where do the family go from here?
Victoria and David are very much never complain, never explain. They are very much like the Royals in that sense. They will be in an absolute tailspin this morning because this is so damaging. This is a brand, this is a family unit they have built. They love their children dearly. They’ve always protected their happiness and tried to protect their privacy as much as possible. This has just blown every single thing apart.
Do I think the Beckhams are going to come out and say anything? No, I don’t. I think they’re going to say nothing. But I think one thing we can guarantee is there is definitely no going back now.
I think Brooklyn doesn’t want to go back. I think David and Victoria were always really open to reconciliation and I believe they probably still are. But this is so incredibly hurtful of Brooklyn to do so publicly.
Every single time I see an Instagram post by Brooklyn, his followers comment saying: ‘Call your parents!’ I wonder now if those people might have changed their minds and may be backing Brooklyn a bit more? Or are people are still going to be team Victoria and David?
It’s a tough one, but this is explosive and I actually still cannot believe what has happened.
She wrote on Instagram: “Right and that girl doesn’t want privacy, she’s been trying to be famous for a decade.”
Meanwhile, surveys conducted by The Sun suggest most Brits are on the Beckhams’ side.
Some 45.8 per cent supported the family in the wake of the statement, with 29.2 per cent backing Brooklyn and the remaining 25 per cent undecided.
Some 68.3 per cent believe that Nicola — daughter of billionaire businessman and investor Nelson, 83 — is “manipulating” Brooklyn.
Brooklyn’s statement in full
“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.”
