Brooklyn Beckham has been likened to a "visual spare part" in Halloween pictures with his wife Nicola Peltz and her friend Damian Hurley, following widespread mockery on social media.
The 27-year-old son of David and Victoria Beckham appeared in photos from a Halloween party dressed as Superman, while Nicola wore a Catwoman costume. Although the two DC comic book characters appeared together in some stories, they were never romantically involved, with Catwoman instead being a love interest for Batman.
Photo of trio sparks backlash
In one of the pictures, Nicola had her arm around Damian, who wore a similar black leather outfit to hers and matched her pouty expression, while Brooklyn smiled in the background. The photo caused an immediate backlash, with fans calling Brooklyn "out of place" and a "spare part."
Body language expert Judi James said: "Brooklyn appears to find himself relegated to the role of a 'visual spare part' which could be why he seems to be doing everything he can to court and pander to Nicola and try to retrieve some signals of attention from her in other photos."
Comparison to Beckham parents
In another photo, Brooklyn held onto Nicola and stared at her face, while she looked passively at the camera and did not return his affections. Judi compared this to photos of Brooklyn's parents, in which Victoria Beckham is "draped" over David, while he seemed to avoid reciprocating the gesture. Judi said these poses seemed to be in "Brooklyn's DNA."
Judi also noted a "hint of poor etiquette" in Nicola and Damian's closeness, explaining that celebrity couples typically put distance between themselves on a red carpet when one poses with another celebrity, to avoid the solo star looking like they are lurking in the background. She said Nicola and Damian could have done the same, especially as they were dressed nearly identically in skintight black leather and with "his 'n hers whips."
Photo deleted from Instagram
The picture has since been deleted from Brooklyn's Instagram account but remains live on Damian's. The move followed strong reactions from followers, with one asking: "Why is she wearing a matching costume with some other guy?" Another said: "I've been seeing that too. Seems like her little puppet unfortunately. Very unbalanced relationship." A third added: "His costume has nothing to do with hers while Damian's one is the perfect match."
Nicola was also accused of copying her estranged mother-in-law, Victoria Beckham, who famously wore a black PVC catsuit in the 1996 music video for the Spice Girls hit "Say You'll Be There." One Instagram user commented "Wannabe @victoriabeckham" alongside three laughing-face emojis, while others posted GIFs of Victoria rolling her eyes and wearing her catsuit. The image of the trio is not the first time they have baffled followers.
