David Beckham says ‘you have to let your children make mistakes’ hours after Brooklyn went nuclear with astonishing statement on family feud

David Beckham has said ‘you have to let your children make mistakes’ in a new interview about social media, hours after Brooklyn went nuclear with astonishing statement on family feud. 

Speaking live on CNBC’s financial program Squawk Box, David, 50, said: ‘I have always spoken about social media and the power of social media . . . For the good and for the bad.

‘What kids can access these days, it can be dangerous. But what I have found personally, especially with my kids as well, use it for the right reasons.

‘I’ve been able to use my platform for my following, for UNICEF. And it has been the biggest tool to make people aware of what’s going on around the world for children.

‘And I have tried to do the same with my children, to educate them.

‘They make mistakes, but children are allowed to make mistakes. That is how they learn. That is what I try to teach my kids, you sometimes have to let them make those mistakes as well.’

His words came after Brooklyn, 26,  took to Instagram to insist he has no wish to reconcile with his family and is standing up for himself ‘for the first time in his life’. 

Brooklyn and his wife Nicola Peltz, 31, have been at the heart of the acrimonious divide that has resulted in them snubbing all significant family celebrations over recent months, including his father David’s milestone 50th birthday and knighthood. 

The CNBC was released shortly after the moment David awkwardly ignored questions about son Brooklyn’s explosive broadside at his family, while attending the World Economic Forum in Davos.

As he posed for selfies with fans, a reporter from Sky News shouted: ‘David, do you have a message for Brooklyn this morning?’ causing the red-faced sportsman to quickly turn on his heel and make an exit. 

As David walked away, he was asked again: ‘David, are you disappointed family business is being aired in public?’ but he refused to answer. 

David had looked weary-eyed and struggled to smile minutes before, as he took part in a podcast interview for Radio Davos’s latest episode called Re-thinking with science author, Adam Grant.

The annual meeting in Davos opens with a stated motto of ‘improving the state of the world’, and this year’s theme is ‘a spirit of dialogue’. 

David’s awkwardly-timed interview will focus on ‘resilience, failure, regret and disappointment’ amid his family woes – and is expected to be released on Wednesday. 

The chef went as far as to say he has been ‘controlled by a family that values public promotion above all else’ and that since being with his wife Nicola, he has found ‘peace and relief’ after battling crippling anxiety. 

Brooklyn also claimed Victoria, who has her own fashion brand, cancelled making Nicola’s wedding dress at the ‘eleventh hour’ and hijacked their first dance which left him so ’embarrassed’ they decided to renew their vows without his family last year. 

He said in a statement posted on Instagram Stories: ‘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.’

He continued: ‘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.’

Meanwhile, Brooklyn’s explosive claim that his mother pulled out of designing his bride’s wedding dress at the ‘eleventh hour’ is seemingly at odds with an account given by the bride’s stylist at the time.

He claimed Victoria ‘cancelled’ plans to make Nicola’s gown at the last minute, ‘forcing her to urgently find a new dress’.

But in an article published in Vogue four weeks after their April 2022 nuptials Nicola’s stylist Leslie Fremar said the dress was a year in the making.

Nicola also addressed the controversy in a Grazia interview in which she said that after Victoria said her atelier couldn’t make the gown in time, she travelled to Valentino’s headquarters to start the design process.

The actress sported a stunning couture Valentino bridal dress on the big day.

Hollywood stylist Leslie, who is behind the wardrobes of Demi Moore, Julianne Moore and Charlize Theron, took two trips to Valentino’s headquarters in Rome to see the design come to life with the brand’s creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli and his team.

There was then two US fittings with Nicola, with the head seamstresses even journeying to Miami to ensure it was tailored perfectly.

Leslie said: ‘It was the ultimate couture experience. The simplicity of it was magnificent. We didn’t have to overly detail the dress to accomplish the magnitude of it, so we ended up eliminating the embroidery.’

Tensions of a brewing feud began over Nicola’s choice of wedding dress, with rumours at the time claiming it was the actress who refused to wear one of Victoria’s eponymous designs.

She instead opted for various designs from Valentino, Christian Dior and Versace. Nicola later confirmed the rumours had begun after she didn’t wear Victoria’s design.

While she denied there was a ‘feud’, she explained that Victoria’s atelier simply hadn’t had time to make the dress, as she insisted: ‘No family is perfect.’

She told the Sunday Times in 2022: ‘I think it all started, and I’ve said this before, because I didn’t end up wearing Victoria’s wedding dress. But the real truth is I really, really wanted to wear it and I thought it was so beautiful that Brooklyn’s mum got to make that for me.’

But in a different interview that same year, Nicola seemingly hinted at tensions claiming that her mother-in-law blanked her for days after offering to design her wedding dress – before blowing the bride’s plans out of the water and saying her studio couldn’t make the gown.

‘We connected to start designing the dress, and then a few days went by and I didn’t hear anything. Victoria called my mum and said her atelier couldn’t make it,’ Nicola told Grazia USA.

‘I was planning on wearing Victoria’s wedding dress and I was truly so excited to be able to wear a design that my future mother-in-law created. I thought that was so beautiful and such a beautiful story.’

Following the revelations from Victoria that she couldn’t make her daughter-in-law’s dress, Nicola recalled: ‘So, I spoke to my mum and Leslie, and I was like, “Well, unfortunately, this can’t happen, so what’s the next step?”

‘I’ve been a fan of Valentino and their couture for so long. I was really lucky to be able to travel to [the atelier] to try on the dress. That’s really what happened.’

Moreover, Brooklyn has said the couple opted to have his Nanny Sandra, his dad David’s mum, and Nicola’s ‘naunni’ sit with them at the top table because both women didn’t have husbands. 

David’s dad Ted attended the wedding with his new wife Hilary while Nicola’s grandfather had passed away.

Brooklyn said his family and Nicola’s family were placed on their own tables ‘equally adjacent’ to the top table.

This is a diversion from tradition as usually top table etiquette places the couple in the centre, with their parents on either side.

Rebecca Loos had her say on Brooklyn’s astonishing attack on his parents soon after it happened. 

David’s former PA, 48, who claimed to have had an affair with the married footballer, responded to online comments on Monday night directing her toward Brooklyn’s Instagram statement.

Replying to one fan who suggested she may ‘feel a source of extra validation’ at reading Brooklyn’s words, Rebecca wrote: ‘So happy he is standing up for himself and speaking publicly finally!!!! I have felt so bad for his poor wife, knowing too well what they can be like!’

She added in another comment ‘the truth always comes out ❤️’, mirroring Brooklyn’s own words in his explosive statement in which he wrote: ‘I believe the truth always come out.’

Rebecca, who now lives in Norway with her husband and children, shot to global notoriety in 2004 when she claimed to have had an affair with her then-boss David. 

David has always denied the affair allegations, and famously talked about the reports  in his Netflix show, released in October 2023. Rebecca insisted the show was David ‘trying to portray an image of perfection that was nothing like reality.’

On a sligjhtly more light-hearted note, Victoria has caused the internet to explode with memes amid claims she danced ‘inappropriately’ on son Brooklyn – while a 2024 tweet also saw the star profess that she’s ‘never met a dancefloor she doesn’t like’.

Jaws dropped to the floor when his statement included claims that Victoria had ‘hijacked his first dance’ and ‘danced very inappropriately on me’, leaving the nepo-baby ‘uncomfortable or humiliated’.

In the wake of the statement, a throwback tweet from Victoria, with images showing her dancing with David with the caption: ‘Never met a dance floor I didn’t like’ resurfaced.

In the face of such controversy, the internet naturally exploded with memes, jokes and speculation over what Victoria’s ‘inappropriate’ dancing would have entailed, leaving fans in stitches about the situation.

But just two years ago Victoria raved about her ‘loving daughter-in-law’ Nicola and their shared love of a dance floor in a gushing posh.

To celebrate Nicola’s 29th birthday in January 2024, Victoria shared a video of herself and the actress holding hands and dancing on a beach, and raved about their ‘loving’ relationship in the caption. 

‘Happy birthday @NicolaAnnePeltzBeckham… We love you so much!! Your love, kindness, talent and your ability to dance on sand in a major wedge!!

‘The best dance partner and loving daughter in law. We love you, have an amazing day!!!!! Xxxxxx’. Victoria shared the same video a year later to mark Nicola’s 30th. 

But another reason for their family fall-out came when Brooklyn claimed Victoria declined to contribute to his and Nicola’s charity efforts, when Nicola raised $59,000 for dogs displaced by the Los Angeles wildfires. 

In Brooklyn’s post, he claimed that Victoria snubbed Nicola’s request to support her attempts to help dogs during the LA fires, despite it being ‘the only time they had ever asked for anything.’

Rather than focus on supporting residents affected by the tragedy, the couple raised the money through the actress’ charity Yogi’s House to help animals affected by the blaze.

He said: ‘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.’

LA was hit by devastating wildfires in January 2025, which claimed the lives of 31 people, forced over 200,000 people to evacuate and destroyed over 18,000 structures.

No doubt David will be attempting to focus on the matter in hand in Davos on Tuesday. 

Nearly 3,000 attendees from the interlinked worlds of business, advocacy and policy will tackle issues including the growing gap between rich and poor; AI’s impact on jobs; concerns about geo-economic conflict; tariffs that have rocked longstanding trade relationships; and an erosion of trust between communities and countries.

The forum will be without its founder, Klaus Schwab, who hosted the first event in Davos 55 years ago focusing on business, only to see it since balloon into a catchall extravaganza.

He stepped down in April. New co-chairs Larry Fink, the head of investment firm BlackRock, and Andre Hoffman, vice chair of pharmaceuticals firm Roche, are in charge.

This year will also mark the debut appearance of Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, arguably the world’s most important tech leader today, among some 850 CEOs and chairs of global companies – along with some celebrities like Hollywood actor and safe-water advocate Matt Damon.

The future of AI, its impact on business and work, and the prospects for artificial general intelligence will be key themes.

Leading public-relations firm Edelman reports in its annual trust barometer – launched a quarter-century ago and this year surveying nearly 34,000 people in 28 countries – that trade and recession fears have climbed to an all-time high, optimism is falling especially in developed countries, and ‘grievance’ last year has morphed into broader ‘insularity.’

‘People are retreating from dialogue and compromise, choosing the safety of the familiar over the perceived risk of change,’ said CEO Richard Edelman.

‘We favor nationalism over global connection and individual gain over joint progress. Our mentality has shifted from `we’ to `me’.’

As usual, protesters rallied over the weekend in and near Davos ahead of the event.

Hundreds of marchers scaled an Alpine road up to the town on Saturday behind a banner in German that read ‘No Profit from War’ and alongside a truck that bore a sign: World Economic Failure.

Critics have long accused the annual meeting in Davos of generating more rhetoric than results, and they see Trump’s return as sign of the disconnect between haves and have-nots.

Some say Swiss leaders who support the event and flock to Davos too are adding to the problem.

‘It is worrying how Swiss politicians are courting warmongers and their profiteers in Davos,’ said Mirjam Hostetmann, president of Switzerland’s Young Socialists, who have led protests against the event. ‘The WEF will never bring peace, but will only fuel escalation.’