David Beckham may have already received his highly sought-after knighthood, but his next honour is just as big for him.
The former footballer, 50, will receive a star (the 2,849th to be exact) on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Friday, in a ceremony which is set to be ‘emotional’.
David will be joined by his wife, Lady Victoria Beckham, and actor Tom Cruise, who will unveil the star while looking back on his influence in sports, entertainment, and global culture.
But despite being just 20 minutes down the road, Sir David won’t be joined by his eldest son Brooklyn, who now lives in Los Angeles with his wife Nicola Peltz.
The couple, who tied the knot in 2022, live in a $16million 4-bedroom villa they bought on the exclusive Trousdale Estates, a star-studded enclave above Beverly Hills just stone’s throw away from where his parents will be.
While it will be a bittersweet moment for Victoria and David to not have Brooklyn at the ceremony, the Stateside recognition for the sportsman feels ‘joyous’ and will be a special moment for him to reflect on his international influence.
A source told Metro: ‘David can’t wait for his star unveiling ceremony. He’ll have Victoria by his side, and her speech is incredibly moving. His close friend Tom Cruise will also honour his career, which will be a huge moment for him.
‘Brooklyn lives less than 20 minutes away from where the ceremony will be, but won’t be attending. It wouldn’t be the right time or place for a family reunion after everything that’s happened between them.’
In January, Brooklyn finally responded to rumours that there had been an almighty rift in the family that had been brewing for years.
After there was first speculation in 2022, there had been a fallout around the time of his wedding to Nicola; Brooklyn and his wife largely put on a united front with his family – but last year started to distance themselves.
The couple were noticeably absent from milestone family events, including celebrations for David’s 50th birthday and his knighthood ceremony. In addition, none of the Beckhams were invited to Brooklyn and Nicola’s vow renewal ceremony last summer.
Although both sides stayed tight-lipped for months on what was happening, in January, Brooklyn dropped his bombshell statement on social media, accusing his parents of ‘controlling’ him and declaring that he now was ‘standing up’ for himself.
Brooklyn Beckham’s explosive 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 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 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 [is] peace, privacy, and happiness for us and our future family.’
Despite David and Victoria largely choosing to avoid speaking publicly about the ongoing dispute, she finally spoke out in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in April.
‘I think that we’ve always – we love our children so much. We’ve always tried to be the best parents that we can be,’ she explained.
‘And you know, we’ve been in the public eye for more than 30 years right now, and all we’ve ever tried to do is protect our children and love our children. And you know, that’s all I really want to say about it.’
Discussing the lives of the four Beckham children– Brooklyn, Romeo, 23, Cruz, 21, and Harper, 14, she went on: ‘I wouldn’t say it comes with guilt; I’d say that there was a lot of adjusting from my mum and dad, when all of a sudden there were paparazzi outside their house.
‘We’ve really taken our families on this ride with us.’
Brooklyn, however, has insisted there will be no reunion with his parents any time soon, saying: ‘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.’
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