Brooklyn Beckham aimed a hard swipe at his famous family with a bombshell Instagram post in January, in which he announced he had cut them out of his life and had no desire to reconcile.
He returned to the fray again with the DoorDash advert in June, jokingly referencing his estrangement by saying: ‘You’re probably wondering why I’m watching the FIFA World Cup 2026 from home… It’s a long story.’
And now, just when the prospect of peace seemed tangible, comes another pointed public ‘diss’ as the nepo chef has persuaded A-list actor Mark Wahlberg – a former friend who fell out with his father – to endorse his Cloud 23 hot sauce.
Wahlberg has posted an Instagram Stories endorsement of Brooklyn’s sauce, which shows him using it to spice up plain grilled chicken. He holds the distinctive Cloud 23 bottle up to the camera before proclaiming: ‘Sweet Jalapeno – my boy Brooklyn!’
The name of the hot sauce brand, which Brooklyn founded in 2024, ‘is a warm nod to Brooklyn’s father, David Beckham, who wore number 23 while playing for Real Madrid and LA Galaxy, inspired by NBA legend Michael Jordan‘, a Cloud 23 spokesman said last year.
Marky Mark, 55, is also using the hot sauce in recipes served in his hugely popular burger chain, Wahlburgers, which began in 2011 and has more than 30 locations.
The actor used to be good buddies and a business partner with David Beckham… until it all went wrong and Becks’s company ended up suing Wahlberg’s fitness firm.
The pair were sufficiently close that the two families holidayed together in the summer of 2022 – but now battle lines have been drawn, and the action star has picked his side.Â
The name of hot sauce brand Cloud 23 ‘is a warm nod to Brooklyn’s father, David Beckham’
Action-film star Mark Wahlberg has been active in supporting the brand via Instagram Stories
In an apparent response to his father liking a social media post, Brooklyn wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words ‘It’s not clocking to you’ – meaning ‘you’re not understanding’Â
Just to rub salt in the hot sauce, Wahlberg has been pals with Brooklyn’s billionaire father-in-law Nelson Peltz for many years. He also played the father of Brooklyn’s wife Nicola in Transformers: Age Of Extinction in 2014. At the time, Wahlberg remarked: ‘I have known Nicola since she was like 13. I am very good friends with her dad and the rest of the family. She has a really great work ethic.’
In gaining the star’s endorsement, Brooklyn, 27, is once again leaning into Team Peltz and away from his own family.
None of this messaging will have been lost on former footballer David, who appears to have been trying to make peace with his son again this week, ‘liking’ one of Brooklyn’s social media posts from Paris Fashion Week. There was no reciprocal ‘like’ from Brooklyn, who has blocked his entire family on Instagram – the most public of snubs in our digital age.
Brooklyn and Nicola have been in Paris at the fashion shows with her family – though, unsurprisingly, they steered clear of his mother Victoria’s event last weekend.
In an apparent response to his father’s social media like, Brooklyn wore a sweatshirt emblazoned with the words ‘It’s not clocking to you’ from Justin Bieber’s fashion label Skylrk – itself a reference to a row Bieber had with a paparazzo. The phrase is a slang way of saying ‘you’re not getting it’ or ‘you’re not understanding’.
Brooklyn said in that January post on Instagram that he just wants to be left in peace and has found contentment in a life away from his ‘inauthentic’ and ‘performative’ family.
Those close to him explain he finds it ‘stressful’ when his parents reference him on social media, by for instance sending birthday or Christmas wishes. And I broke the story in this column some months ago that he had asked them to contact him only through lawyers as a result.
David became friends with Wahlberg when he was based in LA and in 2020 signed a deal with the actor’s fitness company, F45 Training.
Brooklyn teamed up with Mark’s restaurant brand, Wahlburgers, to promote the product. It comes after Brooklyn’s father David and Mark had a falling out in 2020 over a fitness firm
Mark Wahlberg with David Beckham before their infamous spat, which took place six years ago
A shot of Mark and David hanging out on a boat with a group of friends
Aspiring chef Brooklyn has used his own hot sauce brand for some of his recipesÂ
A post by Marky Mark praising the product
Mark starred alongside Nicola Peltz, Brooklyn’s wife, in 2014’s Transformers Age Of ExtinctionÂ
But in October 2022, David sued F45 for a total of $18.8million for breach of contract over the deal, which had seen him become a brand ambassador.
He claimed in the lawsuit that he was not only owed $14.3million in damages, but was also entitled to $4.5million for declaratory relief under his contract with F45.
The dispute centred around stocks which Beckham said he had been promised. It was settled out of court in 2024.
In a statement, Wahlberg’s fitness company said that the lawsuit had been dismissed after they reached a ‘mutual business decision to resolve the matter’. They added: ‘DB Ventures Limited will remain an investor in F45 Training.’
Friends have been taking sides in the fallout between Brooklyn and his parents. Victoria’s fellow Spice Girls are naturally on Team Beckham, as is their old mate Gordon Ramsay, who has had family dramas of his own to contend with.
DJ Fat Tony, who played at Brooklyn and Nicola’s 2022 wedding, is Team Brooklyn.
Sir Elton John, a long-time friend of the couple and Brooklyn’s godfather, is neutral.
