Brooklyn Beckham's viral outburst: When family drama spills on social media, UAE experts weigh in

“How I love rich family drama,” read a tweet.

Last week, Brooklyn Beckham wrote a series of lengthy Instagram posts, confirming what social media sleuths had suspected all along: He was cutting off from his parents, David and Victoria Beckham. They were controlling, he alleged. They cared too much for ‘brand’ Beckham. They tried to destroy his marriage with Nicola Peltz. Moreover, he accused Victoria of hijacking his ‘wedding’ dance.

There are three sides when a situation this drastic unfolds on social media. First, those who condemn the Beckham parents, arguing that the post merely confirms what they believed all along. Second, those who side with the parents and question the need for such a public outburst, why air dirty laundry online? And third, the meme-makers, who have little interest in the outcome and treat the fallout as entertainment, sharing popcorn emojis and recycled jokes.

Beyond the spectacle, however, the first two camps raise some uncomfortable questions. Has social media normalised the public airing of family grievances, especially when celebrities are involved? And more thorny still: is distancing oneself from parents an act of rebellion, or a genuine form of self-care?

 Why the world watches when celebrities fight

 Celebrities have an oddly untouchable, ethereal era about them. As Dr Kirin Hilliar, professor in psychology at the Heriot-Watt University and psychologist at OpenMinds Centre explains, “For some people, they become fascinated with these developments, because celebrities seem above us all. And so when they have these kind of conflicts, it humanises them. They feel, ‘Oh, this is someone who is having a relatable experience, but at an emotionally distant level’.”

 For others, it’s more like a ‘gotcha’ moment. “They believe, ‘oh these celebrities think they’re so perfect, they’re just as terrible as anybody else. In Australia, we call it the Tall Poppy syndrome,” adds Dr Hilliar. Or, the crabs in a bucket metaphor she adds: When one crab tries to climb out of the bucket,  every other crab tries to drag him back in.

 Nevertheless, beyond the voyeurism and moral grandstanding lies a quieter, more personal reckoning, one that many adult children face without an audience cheering or condemning them. It’s the decision to distancing, slowly or going  low-contact or no-contact with parents, and it is not confined to celebrity families, and it’s far more complex than social media often allows.

 The difference between space and shutdown

When is distancing self-care, and when is it just ‘rebellion’ and ‘kids being difficult?’

In many cases, children prefer to quietly distance themselves from parents, without much ado and drama. There aren’t outbursts and explanations; they prefer to keep the conversations minimal. Dr Sneha John, a clinical psychologist from Dubai weighs in, “Distancing is usually self-care, if the child can explain why they need the space without attacking. The distance is not a punishment. It’s intentional.” In such situations, they can verbalise their discomfort, and express what they need to change.

But not all distancing looks the same, and the intent behind it matters.

On the other hand, cutting off completely, is sudden. It is driven by anger, she adds. “The withdrawal is usually seen as leverage, and there is little tolerance for repair. And even if the family wants to repair it, there isn’t much chance,” Dr John explains. “This distance can either collapse when the emotions cool down, or it can escalate. These are very unprocessed emotions. So, this distance is usually to force an apology, where the child means, ‘You hurt me, and I need you to feel it.’

Moreover, it challenges the idea, that ‘because you’re family, it gives you the right to treat me this way’, says Dr Hilliar. “Instead, people have tried to rectify a relationship and find that it isn’t going the way they want, so they make it clear ‘I don’t want you making comments like this’ about my partner,” she adds, that many children also want to break their cycle of generational trauma and abuse. In order to protect their mental health, they choose distance. “Quite often, parents will claim that this was not communicated by the child, or they do not acknowledge how the child is feeling and that compounds the trauma,” she says.

In the chaos, new terms have resurfaced: Low contact and no contact.

Quiet distance vs emotional rupture

The terms are quite self-explanatory: No contact is a clean break from any type of support, monetary, emotional or otherwise. Low-contact can mean there is some degree of it, where a child would rather to prefer to see parents only in ‘safer’ contexts, such as public events. Essentially, they’re setting strict boundaries. And when this doesn’t work, they would go for no-contact.

Asra Sarwar, Clinical Psychologist at Aster Clinic,Bur Dubai (AJMC), Jumeirah Lake Towers (JLT) & Discovery Gardens elaborates further, “Low contact and no contact describe intentional efforts to manage family relationships when interactions become emotionally overwhelming or persistently distressing.”

 Rather than acts of rejection or impulsive fallout, these choices are usually made after repeated attempts to understand and repair the relationship. They are often seen as temporary or adaptive ways to protect emotional wellbeing, while individuals work toward clarity, stability, or healthier communication.

In parent–child relationships, this reflects changing expectations on both sides. As Sarwar explains, ideas around authority, emotional closeness and mutual respect are evolving. Parents can experience distance as painful or confusing, while young adults often view it as a way to protect their identity and emotional balance. At its core, the shift points to unmet emotional needs on both sides,  and the growing need for families to learn how to negotiate boundaries, repair ruptures, and accept differences without seeing them as abandonment or disloyalty.

Moreover, as Dr Hilliar explains: There’s a process that we can go through, that is reality testing, where someone might be perceiving a certain behaviour in a negative way and you want them to explore is there another way to be interpreted? You might have a tense relationship with your parents, so you would interpret a comment differently, as compared to a person that you might like. So, you react in a certain way and it escalates.

And that's when people turn to social media.

Outbursts on social media

With a laugh, Dr Hilliar notes that social media has effectively become a public diary. Likes and comments can feel validating, which becomes a problem when validation is the only goal. If family conflict is posted as rage bait, she says, it’s disingenuous. But if someone is genuinely curious about how others might see the situation, the “have you thought about it this way?” responses — it can allow for a degree of cognitive flexibility. That, however, depends entirely on whether the person posting is actually open to hearing it.

If they’re not, then the intent isn’t reflection or perspective, it’s confirmation. And that raises the real question: why post this online at all? What’s the intent?

Brooklyn Beckham’s bursts aren’t new or unique. We’ve spent years devouring celebrity catfights and public fallouts online, from the brutal Taylor Swift–Kanye West swipes, to the Harry and Meghan documentary and the endless social media discourse that followed. And of course, few have topped the unapologetic mud-slinging between Cardi B and Nicki Minaj, who turned personal conflict into viral spectacle.

But social-media ‘therapy’ doesn’t work the same way for everyone. “Online flare-ups are usually done as avoidance, or as a way of using grievance to sidestep feelings of guilt. It’s not helpful,” explains Dr John. “It’s reactive, it accelerates conflict, and it leaves both parties feeling more resentful. It’s acting out rather than working through the issue. The parties aren’t really trying to understand the tools needed for healing.”

At the same time, social media has undeniably accelerated the spread of therapy language ,sometimes productively, sometimes reductively. “The influence of therapy-informed language and social media psychology has played a significant role in shaping these narratives,” notes Sarwar.

“While platforms such as TikTok and Instagram have made psychological concepts more accessible, they can also oversimplify complex family dynamics. This underscores the importance of nuance, cultural sensitivity, and professional guidance when navigating family boundaries.”

So, judge, justify, or just scroll, but nobody looks away.