The ease and global reach of social media posts make them a fitting way to divulge secrets about a commercial dynasty – particularly when your parents are David and Victoria Beckham. In the days after Brooklyn Beckham took to Instagram to say he had cut ties with his A-list family, reactions from the world’s social media users took on a life of their own.

The Beckhams’ PR machine was largely silent on the matter, despite the size of the business empire. If sold, Brand Beckham’s combined businesses are worth an estimated £500 million. In 2024, David Beckham’s DRJB holdings (with business interests in media, marketing, endorsement deals and spirits) declared a US$92 million turnover, with Victoria Beckham Holdings family and beauty brands amassing close to £113 million.

Victoria also owns the trademarks to Brooklyn Peltz Beckham’s name and brand. This means that other businesses cannot use it to market goods or services. And it is alleged that a prenuptial agreement was signed before Brooklyn’s wedding to Nicola Peltz, whose family is worth around US$1.3 billion.

On January 19, Brooklyn shared the lengthy statement on Instagram that confirmed rumours of an ongoing feud with his parents. Among his reasons was the claim that his family values self-promotion and endorsements “above all else”. “Brand Beckham comes first,” he went on.

Brooklyn’s public airing of this private family conflict, combined with David and Victoria’s decision not to respond to his criticisms, fuelled a surge of creative social media content.

Filling a PR vacuum

My own research on how passionate social media users reshaped the narrative during a royal PR crisis can help to explain this. The so-called #KateGate furore blew up after a family photo of the Princess of Wales and her children released for Mother’s Day 2024 had to be withdrawn when it emerged it had been doctored.

While research into public relations typically focuses on how brands can manage crises and address reputational threats, my study found that social media users add a different dimension to a PR crisis. When official PR machines stay silent, as the royals did, social media users start using their posts to co-create their own story about the brand or institution in real time.

This means that crisis narratives aren’t owned by the PR team. As such, brands need to consider how social media users remix, parody and challenge PR using humour and references to news and popular culture. The silent approach is not always effective, and did not work for the royal communications team. It missed opportunities to pick up on and engage with these playful disruptions before they were “formalised” in the press.

Social media users filled the communications void with resurfaced clips that appear to show how frosty the relationship had become.

But the Beckhams have fared better. In response to Brooklyn’s claim that Victoria “hijacked” the first dance at his wedding, people created memes with their own take on how this played out. Some attracted millions of views, with one featuring a clip of Victoria’s 2001 song Not Such an Innocent Girl even getting a “like” from Brooklyn’s brother Cruz.

Regardless of whether these memes mock or support Brooklyn or Brand Beckham, social media users put energy and passion into creating them. David and Victoria did not rush to address Brooklyn’s points or try to put their own case across. Instead, social media users catapulted their creative content to fill the silence with humour and speculation.

At its essence, this is really a family tragedy playing out on a global stage. But it appears it is business as usual for Brand Beckham. If anything, the feud seems to have attracted more attention to other aspects of the family’s lives and businesses. David attended the World Economic Forum in Davos alongside the chief executive of Bank of America. He also continues to post Instagram endorsement deals with brands such as Adidas and Boss clothing, reportedly for £300,000 a time.

Meanwhile sales and streams of Victoria’s single Not Such an Innocent Girl rose by 19,615% in a week, securing the former Spice Girl her first solo UK number one. Both David and Victoria also have documentaries, made by their own production company, streaming on Netflix.

And although it would have been arranged before the rift went public, there was heightened media interest when Victoria received the prestigious Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters from the French culture ministry in Paris surrounded by her other children.

In the age of social media, not all celebrity brands can afford to sit out a PR crisis and allow the posts to act for them. Smaller or lesser-known brands have more freedom to show a sense of humour and engage with the memes, comments and ridicule. But for the Beckhams, silence as a strategy seems to have worked this time.