In the Brooklyn Beckham family feud, there’s only one thing people want to see

Brooklyn Beckham has claimed that his parents planted stories about him in the media, controlled his life, and — somehow most shocking of all — his mom hijacked his first dance at his wedding to Nicola Peltz by dancing on him inappropriately. People of the internet won’t stop until they find footage of this mysterious boogie, writes Ellie Muir

“Release the tapes,” is the plea reverberating across social media today after Brooklyn Peltz Beckham dropped his cataclysmic six-page tell-all about his ongoing feud with his estranged parents, Victoria and David. In a list of serious allegations that includes claims that his parents have controlled him for his entire life, planted stories about him in the press and attempted to bribe him into “signing away the rights” to his name, the meme-minded are more concerned with one thing: Victoria’s so-called “inappropriate” dance floor faux-pas at Brooklyn’s Palm Beach wedding.

Brooklyn claimed in his explosive post Monday that his mother hijacked his first dance with his wife Nicola Peltz, and proceeded to dance — wait for it — “on” him. The 26-year-old wrote of his mom’s moves: “She danced very inappropriately on me in front of everybody. I’ve never felt more uncomfortable or humiliated in my entire life.” These two sentences have made for pure catnip. First of all, what does “on” mean? And more crucially: where is the video? With no real footage of the mysterious dance routine yet released, the lack of evidence has sparked a full-blown meme frenzy. As of Tuesday, X is awash with GIFs of salacious dances paired with the caption “Victoria hijacking Brooklyn’s wedding.” There's Miley Cyrus gyrating on her wrecking ball, Real Housewives royalty Lisa Rinna twerking on a table and John Travolta rolling his hips in Saturday Night Fever. Other fervent followers of the feud are rifling through the dark corners of the internet in search of the elusive footage. At the time of writing, “Brooklyn Beckham dance” is the trending topic on Google behind “Brooklyn Beckham statement.” Call it boogie-gate.

Rumors first began when Brooklyn was conspicuously absent from family events and photo ops, most notably his dad David’s 50th birthday celebrations and knighthood ceremony last year. Then it emerged that the roots of the feud lay in Peltz reportedly refusing to wear a dress from Victoria’s eponymous fashion label at her wedding, opting for a Valentino number instead (though Brooklyn says in his statement that his mom cancelled making Nicola’s dress “at the eleventh hour”).

The feud was the elephant in the room in both David and Victoria’s shiny self-produced Netflix documentaries, Beckham (for David) and Victoria Beckham (for Posh), in which they both gushed about the importance of family. Baby photos of their eldest flashed up at various intervals, but he never appeared in person. It reached fever pitch with Brooklyn blocking his entire family on Instagram before Christmas — as revealed by his brother, Cruz, who responded to a Daily Mail story that claimed that his mother and father had unfollowed their son.

In his statement, Brooklyn — whose latest business endeavor is the founding of the hot sauce company Cloud23 — claimed that his mom “hijacked my first dance with my wife, which had been planned weeks in advance to a romantic love song.” Then, in front of their 500 guests, singer Marc Anthony, a close friend of David and Victoria, beckoned Brooklyn 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.” Brooklyn added that he and Nicola renewed their wedding vows last year after only three years of matrimony to salvage “the anxiety and embarrassment” they felt on their big day.

Brooklyn accused his mom of making him ‘uncomfortable’ when she allegedly danced ‘inappropriately’ on him at his wedding (Getty Images)

Cruz Beckham, Nicola Peltz, Victoria and Brooklyn are all happy families in 2024 snap (Getty Images)

Surely, it’s only a matter of hours before one of their 500 wedding guests gives in to the internet’s demands and releases the first dance footage. If and when the clip surfaces, people might be disappointed, though. There are plenty of reports that conflict with Brooklyn’s version of events. Dan Wakeford, the editor-in-chief of Us Weekly, said on Instagram that his sources at the wedding called the moment a “sweet mother-son” dance and that Brooklyn “didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.” Vogue’s account of the nuptials states that the couple’s first dance was to South African singer Lloyiso's rendition of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and that Anthony was on the stage much later during the reception, around 11 p.m., to perform his track “I Need to Know.” It was at this point that “Brooklyn invited his mother on stage for a dance and they were joined by David and their 10-year-old daughter, Harper.” Victoria’s friend DJ Fat Tony was on the decks until the early hours. The Independent has contacted the Beckhams for comment.

Put aside the internet hysteria; this is a deeply sad family rift. It is also a completely human story, since plenty of us have relatable tales of household dysfunction. The Beckham firm has been at the forefront of celebrity culture since the late 2000s, meaning that the children, like members of the royal family, were born into a meticulously cultivated public brand. Brooklyn claims that after years of playing “performative” happy families, his anxiety has significantly diminished after distancing himself from his parents. “I wake up every morning grateful for the life I chose, and have found peace a relief,” he wrote.

There are plenty of sides to this story. And it is likely only a matter of time until the Beckhams issue a statement saying that they will always love Brooklyn and they await reconciliation. Until the next public interpretation of the events is released, the search for the first dance tapes will continue. Wedding guests: do your thing. Give the people what they want. What they really, really want.