Uncovering the Parasocial Nature Behind the Beckham Discourse

Why are we so quick to slander when we don't know both sides to the story?

It may only be three weeks into 2026, but Brooklyn Beckham has already blessed us with one of the most interesting celebrity feuds in recent years. On January 19th, Beckham shared six fiery instagram stories highlighting the injustice him and his wife Nicola Peltz had endured from his family since they began dating in 2020. So why is he only bringing this up now? For anyone like me, an encyclopaedia for pop culture and celebrity gossip, this is a feud I had been somewhat keeping up with for the past year. I have never cared about the Beckhams’, or their partners, but watching these events unfold in real time has been more entertaining than any series I have watched this year. there’s something so fascinating about these wealthy stars bickering that makes us realise, they are more similar to us than we think.

Of course, there is nothing relatable about having a $3 million wedding, or your mum being Posh Spice. However, as the tabloids and paparazzi have exploited every ounce of their fame for the general public to observe and critique, it’s far more exciting to see this escalate consensually due to their own pettiness. It feels like we’re worthy of knowing the ins and outs of their family dynamic, the good, the bad, and the ugly. For Brooklyn to slander his own family - especially considering how unproblematic he is - he must have either had 1. low views on his cooking videos, or 2. a ridiculous amount of resentment towards his parents. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, people just want to see drama.

It’s refreshing to be thrown a reminder that these celebrities aren’t perfect. No amount of money or fame can protect you from the inquisitiveness of the general public. Whilst they’re making millions in their mansions, it only takes a few taps on a keyboard for us common folk to tarnish their image. Victoria Beckham, former wag and entrepreneur, has since been villainised for supposedly dancing inappropriately on Brooklyn during his wedding. This has led to global memes and discourse over the ‘boy mum’ trope. Why would she not let Nicola have her first dance? What dance did Victoria do that was so inappropriate? Reddit pages have been tracking down guests at the wedding to try and source footage of this supposedly ‘inappropriate dance’. But why do we care so much? No other celebrity feuds (since Wagatha Christie) have had the general public as hooked as this one. My guess is that people want to see something so destructive and detrimental to these families dynamics, because it humbles them, and we can point and laugh. It would be hypocritical for me to say that I don’t enjoy a bit of celebrity gossip. I love it when A-listers are sharing their accounts of mistreatment from other A-listers. Most of us do. When those at the top of the social hierarchy are humbled, what’s not to love? We know these people aren’t perfect. When they have their guard up for so long, in an attempt to deceive the general public and maintain their squeaky clean image, there’s nothing more satisfying than to see that charm crumble around them.

Sure, we had The Osbourne's, which didn’t steer away from outlining the reality of living in an unconventional household, but the Beckham drama feels more cut-throat. We rarely get an insight into beyond the allure of their family. The closest thing we got to that was their 2023 documentary ‘Beckham’ which did nothing but paint the family in a positive light, even whilst hinting to the affair between David and Victoria. Knowing that David and Victoria are probably paying their PR team overtime to write up a mature response to these bizarre claims makes us feel like we genuinely have something above these major celebrities. Knowing that this drama has not been stirred and shared with the internet non-consensually, but rather Brooklyn choosing to air out his family business with the general public, makes us feel like we’re involved - and Brooklyn trusts us to believe him, and validate his annoyance.

People seem to be team Brooklyn, but when claims dropped last year that Brooklyn had blocked his whole family (including his 14 year old sister) there was a lack of remorse. While there’s still stigma about cutting off your blood relatives, no one considered Brooklyn’s side to the story prior to these instagram stories. Brooklyn’s silence unfortunately didn’t speak louder than words in this case. Instead of assuming there was a valid reason for Brooklyn to cut off his family, he was hit with criticism as if we knew both sides to the story. But there was no two sides shared. So why were people so quick to share their opinion and sympathise with his siblings? Whilst we might be given the opportunity to slander, it’s important to recognise that we don’t actually know these people. What happened between the Beckhams was unfortunate, but why should we have any strong opinions on it? Why do we get triggered before hearing both sides of the story? If another side is shared, we will only become more invested.

People hated Brooklyn Beckham. Like really hated Brooklyn Beckham. He had many ‘failed’ career paths, and stuck around Selena Gomez at the height of her feud with Hailey Bieber. Whilst being irrelevant to some, he was still a common topic of discussion online. He married an American billionaire, and then cut off his family. Sound familiar at all? Maybe Brits just hate to see their own kind abandon their culture (and family). But no one seemed to have any respect for Brooklyn in the first place. We look at his parents, very wealthy and successful, and compared to them Brooklyn just didn’t seem as interesting. No one liked the fact he tried all these different careers and couldn’t achieve in any of them. It was an example of the rich doing whatever they wanted, just because they could - not that they should. But Brooklyn was a teenager who may have just had a variety of aspirations, and an excitement for trying new things. Don’t we all have the right to do that? Why are we so offended by their privilege? Just because their flashy lifestyle is plastered all over the tabloids, should it really concern us to such a personal extent?

Maybe this public hatred for him had stemmed from us not liking the fact that he had the privilege of failing and trying again so many times. Not many people have the time, or financial background to do that. But why has our opinion been so strong towards him when we have never met the boy? His desperation for individuality and fame is something that hasn’t really worked out for him - until now. All it took was for him to allow us the pleasure of invading his families privacy for us to gain respect for him. All of a sudden he is brave, but not when he was finding his feet at 18 years old. No amount of talent or service his surname could offer could excite us as much as his invitation for us to see the unrefined Beckham family portrait. Brooklyn finally has that step up over his parents. While they might hold the talent, he now has the charm. After all, the general public love having someone to pity.