Victoria Beckham was the belle of the ball in Manhattan this week as she launched her Gap collection — which sold out almost immediately Friday — and was feted as one of Time’s 100 most influential people.
As usual, the trip was a family affair, with doting husband David, son Cruz, 21, and mini-me daughter Harper, 14, in tow for a fashion launch party at private club People’s and dinners at trendy hot spots Coqodaq and Salam.
But behind the smiles, Victoria is still reeling over the ongoing estrangement from her oldest son Brooklyn, 27, who was busy cooking pasta online at his Los Angeles home.
“Everything’s going really well — but Brooklyn’s not there,” said a source in the know, who insisted the family will “never give up hope” of reuniting with their boy.
It’s been almost a year since David, 50, and Victoria, 52, have had any contact with their son, Page Six can reveal, and insiders said the Beckhams are shocked and “saddened” the freeze-out has lasted this long.
Hopes that relations will be repaired in time for the World Cup in June, when the family will set up camp in the US, are now fading. “Everything is frozen in place,” said one insider.
We can reveal that Brooklyn has only kept in touch, by text, with his grandparents — his dad’s mom, Sandra, and Victoria’ parents, Jackie and Tony — and even that is infrequent.
Brooklyn made headlines in January when he publicly condemned Victoria and David, accusing them of putting the Beckham brand before their children in a devastating statement on social media.
“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,” he wrote at the time.
His wife, Nicola Peltz-Beckham, 31, is still believed to have a firm hand in keeping the family at odds. “She doesn’t think his family is good for him.” the insider told us.
But another source clarified: “It’s not just Nicola … Brooklyn did edit [the statement], he owned it fully … they’re not going to make up any time soon.
“There were points last year when an apology [from David and Victoria] would have worked, but not now.”
Brooklyn’s absence in the once very close family has been conspicuous as he has missed important events including his mother’s fashion shows, David’s star-studded 50th birthday bash and even celebrations for the former footballer’s knighthood ceremony. While Cruz and Romeo honored their mom’s 52nd birthday earlier this month with social media posts — and both parents have continued to post old photos of Brooklyn — he has stayed quiet.
Promoting her Gap range, which is the first of a multi-season partnership, Victoria made a pit stop Tuesday at “Today with Jenna & Sheinelle,” where she was asked about her “pretty challenging year.”
(Jenna Bush Hager and co-host Sheinelle Jones are firmly “team mom,” an NBC source told Page Six.)
“We always put our children first,” Victoria replied. “We love our children so much and have always really focused on protecting our children … “
As Page Six previously revealed, things went downhill even before Brooklyn and Nicola’s wedding at the Palm Beach estate owned by her billionaire parents, Nelson and Claudia Peltz, in April 2022. To this day, the situation is rife with conflicting reports from both sides.
Victoria, who has her own atelier, failed to make her daughter-in-law’s wedding gown as promised, only calling Claudia to break the news a few months before the wedding, according to Peltz sources.
This prompted Claudia to fly Nicola and stylist Leslie Fremar to Rome, where former Valentino creative director Pierpaolo Piccioli took the reins.
In his six-page Instagram Stories diatribe in January, Brooklyn accused his mom of pulling out of making the dress at the last minute, however, this was seemingly contradicted by an interview Nicola and Fremar gave to Vogue, where they said the gown had been a long time in the making.
The fashion bible noted they made two trips to Rome and had two fittings in the United States.
Victoria also rang Fremar and said “Maybe I should wear Valentino, too,” before eventually wearing a dress from her own collection.
“it was just a comment, but kind of strange,” said a Peltz source.
We also revealed how Victoria allegedly “nuzzled” into Brooklyn’s neck as she danced with him at the wedding, leaving Nicola in tears.
Brooklyn claimed his mom “hijacked” his first dance with his wife and alleged his parents have been “trying endlessly to ruin my relationship since before my wedding”
Things came to a halt last year in the run up to David’s string of 50th birthday celebrations, which started with a party in Miami on March 30, over a month ahead of his actual May 2 birthday. Held at Cipriani Downtown Miami, the exclusive event was hosted by Victoria and attended by celebrities including Lionel Messi, Tom Brady and Shaquille O’Neal.
Brooklyn and Nicola did not attend — which, at first, we were told was due to work commitments.
But then Brooklyn failed to join a boys’ fishing trip to the Scottish Highlands for David and his sons; a big family party at the Beckhams’ converted barn in the Cotswalds; a trip to a vineyard in Bordeaux followed by a night in Paris; and a lavish dinner.
In fact, Brooklyn and Nicola had actually flown to London and prepared to join the Beckhams for at least a few of the events before apparently changing their minds.
After a week, the couple flew back to their Los Angeles home on May 3 without seeing the family at all, leaving just a couple of hours before A-listers including Tom Cruise, Gordon Ramsay and Eva Longoria — all of whom Brooklyn had been close to since childhood — gathered at a friends and family dinner at Core restaurant in London’s Notting Hill.
“They flew to London and there was a girl, Kim, that Brooklyn had a past with,” a Peltz source told us, citing Cruz Beckham’s on-off girlfriend Kim Turnbull. “And he was uncomfortable being in the same room with her … He called his dad and said ‘We’ll be happy to come to you or we’ll make a dinner for you, Nanny and Papa, we just want to celebrate you.’
“But they didn’t contact them,” the Peltz source added. “They just sat in a hotel room before flying home. And Nicola is friendly with Brooklyn’s first girlfriend, she doesn’t care [about that].”
This was denied by Beckham sources.
In his incendiary post, Brooklyn accused his mom of “inviting women from my past into our lives.”
Last month, the Daily Mail reported that David and Brooklyn had come “tantalizingly close” to coming face-to-face twice at the five-star Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles.
Sources said Brooklyn’s freeze-out has had a huge impact on his younger siblings, who all grew up adoring him.
While Cruz has previously said, “My mum and dad would never unfollow their son … They woke up blocked … as did I,” he has also tried reaching out to Brooklyn — this week posting a throwback photo of them and brother Romeo, 23.
David, who owns Inter Miami FC, will be on hand to greet his good friend, Prince William, when the royal travels out for the World Cup this summer. And yet, Brooklyn is not expected to join his family at any time.
Still, Victoria said at her Time100 panel Wednesday: “I learned a long time ago to really not listen to the noise, not focus on the noise. Someone’s always going to have something to say …I don’t want to know. That’s how I handle it, I suppose.”
“Things have been calmer, and everyone is getting on with the lives, even though it’s terribly sad they’re not in contact with Brooklyn,” admitted the source in the know. “Whenever Brooklyn wants them, David and Victoria will be there to talk.”