When Brooklyn Beckham, 26, was spotted out in LA with his wife Nicola Peltz, 31, last week, all eyes were on his upper right arm. It appeared that his tattoo tribute to his father, David Beckham, had been altered to remove any trace of “dad” as part of Brooklyn’s sustained and continuing quest to divorce his famous family.
It’s heartbreaking. The stylish black and white tattoo originally had a massive anchor with a rose and movingly included the word “DAD” in the centre, while underneath, it read: “Love you Bust”, a reference to his dad’s endearing nickname for his first-born. But in photos obtained by The Sun, the words appear to have been removed, and three abstract shapes have been added across the anchor.
As if this wasn’t enough of a blow to the Beckham family. A few days later, it was revealed that the eldest son of David and Victoria had also removed the names of his siblings Romeo, Cruz and Harper from his body. And last year, Brooklyn also layered over the “mama’s boy” tattoo dedicated to his mother, Victoria, which was on his chest. It was replaced with a floral design, thought to represent his wife Peltz’s bridal bouquet, and was featured in a photoshoot with Glamour Germany in June 2025.
Brooklyn has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t want reconciliation with his once closely knit family, when last month, he detailed all the previously top secret family dysfunction in an explosive, six-page bombshell statement on Instagram. He accused his parents of only caring about “Brand Beckham” and their performative social media posts while trying to ruin his relationship with Peltz since before the wedding. He wanted us to know that it was all causing him overwhelming anxiety. It was time he moved on.
We got the message then and we’re getting it now, but it will take more than an episode of Tattoo Fixers to make it all go away. This is an inside job.
I understand it perfectly. I’m estranged from my once super close family after we all fell out over my dad’s will when he died in July 2024 – and long before then, it had become toxic and unhealthy. I’m the youngest of five half-siblings and was the resented love child.
Like Brooklyn, I needed a complete break from them all for my own sanity. I got rid of anything that reminded me of my family home years ago and now live in a minimalist shell of neutrals with a storm grey kitchen table – having put all the family antiques in a lock-up storage unit to try and forge my own very new path. Yet still, my half-siblings pop into my head a few times a day. And I’m someone who has done a huge amount of therapy – and grieved my losses.
Conditioning is hard to break, and it takes more than changing your outsides. Brooklyn’s constant stream of photo dumps showing off his lavish lifestyle – with Peltz’s reported £1m monthly allowance, the cuddly shots of them with their new puppy Tami and erasing family memories from his body – isn’t proof you’ve arrived at destination new life.
I had to take a good, hard look at myself. I was riddled with dysfunction – and entrenched in years of messy family issues. Brooklyn might want to examine why he had such over-the-top tattoos on his body in the first place, declaring his love for his parents – and his own part in that.
It’s all very well to point fingers – as both sides do in a family war like this – but admitting one’s own faults, warts and all, is key.
I was riddled with “people pleasing”, seeking approval, competitiveness, perfectionism, self-pity and a deep-rooted fear that I wasn’t good enough, or lovable. I had to take responsibility for all of this – and stop blaming my family. Yes, I didn’t create the family dynamics, but I had played my role perfectly. Like Brooklyn, I also suffered from overwhelming anxiety and I hit rock bottom aged 24, and ended up in a rehab to face my demons. In some sense, I was lucky my life imploded, as I had to do something.
It was only at this point that I realised that everybody in my family was hurting – not just me. But there was nothing I could do about them – I could only work on myself. It took awareness and hard work.
Beckham has the funds to get help, and living in California, he will be in a community comfortable with therapy and wellness. Having a good old rant and getting angry, even if you win the argument, isn’t enough, because unless the deeper issues are dealt with. You have to dig a lot deeper. Both sides do.
Because it’s not enough for David to just post about loving his family, either. After Brooklyn removed his “dad” tattoo, David shared snaps of his old football boots with Brooklyn’s name on, alongside his other sons Romeo and Cruz, and still shows off his “Buster” neck tattoo in honour of Brooklyn.
Throwing “love” at the flames of hurt and anger as if nothing is wrong in a public display of family unity is only feeding the monster. It doesn’t make it all better because Romeo revealed yesterday he’d had the word “family” tattooed on the back of his neck. This war of words, whether it is on Instagram or inked on the body, isn’t helping anyone.
Therapy requires patience and it can be a lifelong journey to get to a place of peace and detachment – even forgiveness.
I’m not there yet – and like Brooklyn, I’ve decided to cut all contact with my family for my own sanity. It has taken me years to untangle myself from my own family drama – and while I love them deep down, I don’t love the person I am in that environment.
But I also know letting go and moving on is not outward performative gestures. Dealing with family estrangement is a lifetime’s work – not just a trip to a laser practitioner in LA to rewrite family history. For real change, it takes looking beyond Instagram – at the inner workings of your heart, mind and soul. What you don’t deal with, deals with you.
