David and Victoria Beckham have finally addressed their estranged son Brooklyn in a public forum, but the message may have come with a side of legal drama.
On Wednesday night, David, 50, and Victoria, 51, shared seemingly innocent Instagram posts wishing Brooklyn a happy 27th birthday.
But the message directly ignores the cease and desist notice Brooklyn sent his parents earlier this year, with the aim of preventing them from posting about him or tagging him in social media posts.
But does this post, which Brooklyn wasn’t tagged in, count as a breach?
According to criminal defence lawyer Jahan Kalantar it’s becoming “increasingly opaque” as to what is or isn’t considered a breach in the modern day.
“Keep in mind – what was said was basically, ‘I want you to do all contact to me through my lawyers,'” Kalantar explained to nine.com.au when asked about David’s post.
“This is a father who, on his own page, has put a photo of his son and said, ‘I love you, and happy birthday…’ I don’t think it would rise to the level of harassment.”
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A cease and desist letter itself is not a legally binding court order, but a formal and private warning that demands someone stop an action.
Kalanter continued: “There’s probably a good argument that this doesn’t breach the cease and desist, but with any legal issue, the answer is that it depends.”
In the Beckham case, no one apart from the family has the full picture of what is going on or knows if there’s been any direct contact in recent months.
“You have to believe that parents genuinely love their children,” he added.
“[Parents] always want to have the door open for them. But, you know, Brooklyn is entitled to tell his side of the story.
“I think as the general public, we will never know the truth.”
Whether or not Brooklyn wants to pursue legal action over this post is up to him, but he may not have even seen it, amid claims he’s blocked both his parents on Instagram.
According to anonymous sources cited by The Daily Mail, Victoria and David were instructed to contact Brooklyn and Nicola through their lawyers exclusively.
“David was told to speak to them via Schillings (Brooklyn’s lawyers). That was the only way for them to communicate,” the source claimed.
The letter in question was said to contain explicit instructions surrounding social media activity, including orders to refrain from tagging or mentioning Brooklyn in posts.
David and Victoria have stayed silent on the feud rumours for months.
But Brooklyn broke his silence on what was really going on with his family on January 19, issuing a blistering social media statement slamming his parents.
“I have been silent for years and have made every attempt to keep these matters private.
“Unfortunately, my parents and their team have continued to go to the press, leaving me with no choice but to speak for myself and tell the truth about only some of the lies that have been printed,” Brooklyn wrote at the time.
“I do not want to reconcile with my family. I’m not being controlled, I’m standing up for myself for the first time in my life.”
He specifically referenced “performative social media posts,” calling their relationship “inauthentic.”
Brooklyn also alleged that he has been “controlled by my parents for most of my life” but stepping away from them has made his anxiety disappear.
Another sticking point of the dispute was the issue relating to David and Victoria “repeatedly pressuring” and “attempting to bribe” Brooklyn into “signing away the rights” to his name.”
When all this was kicked up, Kalantar told nine.com.au the dispute was most likely related to trademarks and intellectual property.
“It has to be about intellectual property rights and certainly the underlying brand value that is attached to the Beckham name,” he explained.
”Intellectual property is a subset of the law that protects people who bring an idea to life … the law protects your right to benefit from the value it’s generated.
“Trademark is the right to use a certain name in a certain context because you have done work to establish an identity in that space.”
Kalatar says “signing away” the rights to your name in a legal capacity could have impacted Brooklyn’s future, as well as Nicola’s, as she is now a Beckham by name.
It would give David and Victoria the right to decide which of Brooklyn and Nicola’s business ventures have the Beckham name attached to it.
”We don’t know what projects were in the pipeline for Brooklyn. We don’t know if there were brand deals, we don’t know if he’s gonna go up and start his own label,” he said.
“We don’t know what he would or wouldn’t do with his own name on his own.”
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