Brooklyn Beckham alters 'Dad' tattoo after family rift with David and Victoria

Sometimes family rifts don’t need statements or social media posts, they show up in ink. Or, in this case, the deliberate removal of it.

Brooklyn Beckham was spotted out in Los Angeles this week with wife Nicola Peltz, but it wasn’t the couple that caught attention. Instead, it was what appeared to be missing from Brooklyn’s arm. The tattoo tribute to his father, David Beckham, once proudly etched into his skin, has quietly been altered.

The large anchor tattoo on Brooklyn’s upper right arm previously featured the word “dad,” along with the message “Love you Bust,” David’s longtime nickname for his eldest son. Now, the word “dad” has been obscured, replaced with abstract shapes and a star, while the affectionate message below appears noticeably faded.

The timing hasn’t gone unnoticed. Just weeks earlier, Brooklyn publicly stated that he had no intention of reconciling with his family, amid ongoing tensions with his parents David and Victoria Beckham and his siblings. Altering a permanent tribute, especially one so personal — reads as another step in that estrangement.

It doesn’t stop there. Brooklyn also appears to be in the process of removing tattoos dedicated to brothers Romeo and Cruz, which were inked onto his fingers in 2020. During the outing, a visible thick line marked where Romeo’s name once was.

What had happened

In a rare and emotionally charged Instagram Stories post on January 19, Brooklyn Beckham publicly addressed long-standing rumours surrounding his 2022 wedding to Nicola Peltz Beckham and laid bare the deep rift in his relationship with his parents, David and Victoria Beckham.

In the lengthy statement, Brooklyn accused his family of prioritising public image and brand value over personal relationships. He alleged that “Brand Beckham” always comes first, claiming that expressions of family love were measured by social media posts and public appearances rather than private support. As an example, he said his mother refused to help Nicola promote efforts to save displaced dogs during the Los Angeles wildfires, despite being asked directly.

Brooklyn went on to claim that Nicola has been “consistently disrespected” by his family throughout their relationship. He alleged that Victoria repeatedly invited women from his past into family settings in ways he felt were designed to cause discomfort. He also said that when he and Nicola travelled to London for David Beckham’s birthday, they spent a week waiting in a hotel while attempts to see him were rejected. When a meeting was finally agreed to, Brooklyn claimed it was on the condition that Nicola would not attend, which he described as “a slap in the face.” He added that subsequent attempts to meet in Los Angeles were also declined.

According to Brooklyn, a major turning point came in the lead-up to their wedding. He alleged that members of his family told him the night before the ceremony that Nicola was “not blood and not family.” He claimed that after he began standing up for himself, he faced what he described as “endless attacks,” both privately and publicly, and alleged that even his brothers were encouraged to criticise him on social media before eventually cutting contact.

Brooklyn also accused Victoria of “hijacking” the couple’s first dance at the wedding, claiming the moment had been planned weeks in advance and that her behaviour embarrassed him.

The wedding itself had already been the subject of widespread speculation. Brooklyn and Nicola married in April 2022 at her parents’ Palm Beach estate, with Nicola wearing a custom Valentino Haute Couture gown. Reports at the time suggested tensions linked to Victoria Beckham declining to make the wedding dress, a decision Brooklyn later described as abrupt and deeply upsetting.

In the post, Brooklyn further alleged that his parents attempted to pressure him into signing away rights to his name ahead of the wedding. He concluded by saying that stepping away from his family had eased long-standing anxiety, adding that for the first time in his life, it had disappeared.