A Very SAD Moment: David and Victoria Beckham finally ‘give up hope’ of reconciliation with daughter-in-law Nicola Peltz as family feud with son Brooklyn ‘takes its toll’

Everyone would love for the Beckhams’ feud with son Brooklyn and his wife Nicola to be over – but there’s no chance of a Christmas miracle, it seems.

Recent reports claim that former footballer David and his fashion designer wife Victoria have ‘given up’ hope of reconciling with Brooklyn’s actress wife and are concentrating instead on showing their eldest son love, in the hope of healing their fractured bond.

There have been a number of social media posts by Victoria and youngest son Cruz, which seemingly point to a desire to bring aspiring chef Brooklyn, 26, back into the fold.

Cruz posted a picture of his brother, who he still doesn’t follow on Instagram.

And Victoria posted a video of her mum Jackie hanging up personalised stockings for the grandchildren… including one for Brooklyn.

However a source said trying to make up just with Brooklyn was a flawed strategy. ‘Trying to create a gap between Brooklyn and Nicola is only going to drive him further away. It is going full speed in totally the wrong direction.

‘Nicola and Brooklyn are totally in step and as strong as ever.

Nicola has been damaged and very hurt by what has gone on.

‘The Beckhams can’t just declare that the problem is over, via some social media posts.

‘You can’t just decide that it’s time to make up, without any apology or commitment to making a change.’

Victoria was in New York this week to celebrate Christmas with the team who work on her beauty business.

Sources close to her and her husband revealed that Brooklyn’s absence is ‘taking a toll’, particularly after he missed out on watching his father receive his knighthood last month – and seeing his dad’s team Inter Miami win the MLS title.

Speaking to The Sun, an insider said: ‘His absence has really taken a toll on the special days – the knighthood… and now Christmas. It’s like the ghost of Brooklyn is hanging over their Christmas and New Year’s.

‘Last year they were all together. The message they’re sending is that the door is always open, and he’s always welcome.

‘They’d love nothing more than to see Brooklyn over Christmas, put the past behind them and start 2026 afresh.

‘And Nicola? Well they’ve stopped trying to win her back over. It might never happen. So for now, they’re concentrating on Brooklyn.’

Tensions came to a head in May when he and Nicola, 30, missed his father’s 50th birthday celebrations – and Cruz and Romeo unfollowed him on Instagram.

Then, in the summer, the young couple renewed their wedding vows – three years after getting hitched – and reportedly did not inform or invite any of his family.

It really is all over for ‘sweethearts’ Tom Cruise and Ana de Armas – she is no longer holding space in her schedule for their movie.

De Armas has just confirmed that she’ll be starting work on a new film, Reenactment, opposite Benicio del Toro, straight after Christmas in LA.

Then, from March, she will star in a TV series from director (and self-proclaimed ‘genius’) David O. Russell. That’s called Bananas and is being made for Apple.

The actress started getting close to thrice-married Tom Cruise this spring, and at the time it was explained they were hanging out while discussing a potential role for her in his next film project, Deeper. Yes, even on Valentine’s night.

By the summer, she was a fixture in his helicopter; and they were hopping around for dates and birthday dinners. The Cuban-Spanish actress was apparently training in scuba diving, in preparation for filming Deeper in August.

However the sea-based disaster film, in which a former astronaut winds up on a mission in the ocean depths, ran into difficulties. And at just about the same time, de Armas bailed out of the romance.

Warner Bros, where Cruise has a development deal, decided to pass in August because the budget was a whopping $275million. The trade papers say that WB set a limit of $230million and Cruise didn’t want to do it ‘on the cheap’.

Actress Helen Mirren has not been able to shift her very nice house in Los Angeles, after three years of price cutting, and taking it on and off the market.

Now, she and husband Taylor Hackford have abandoned hopes of selling and instead put it up for rent… at $30,000 a week.

The couple live most of the time in a mountain house on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

The California home went on the market in 2023 for $17million, was reduced to $15 million in 2024, and this year dropped again, to a mere $12.9million.

They took it off the market in July.

It’s a great shame, as the listing shows it’s a lovely place, with a fabulous pool and outdoor space – although Dame Helen and I clearly have differing taste in curtains. Mirren is currently in London filming Mobland with Tom Hardy and Pierce Brosnan.

My spies tell me that ‘Tardy Hardy’ has allegedly been up to four hours late on set on occasion, a test of the even most saintly patience.

Will Netflix’s billion dollar backlash put paid to Clooney’s hopes of an Oscar?

Has Netflix cooked George Clooney’s goose? The actor had hopes of a best actor Oscar for his turn in Jay Kelly come March next year… but after the streamer swooped for Warner Bros there is a backlash against the big red N from many in Hollywood.

Netflix boss Ted Sarandos promises that if the $83 billion deal goes through, Netflix will still give Warners’ films the same wide release – and lengthy runs – in cinemas.

The problem is that after a decade of Sarandos insisting that nobody wants to watch films in the cinema any more, it’s hard to take him seriously.

The great and the good of the film business (who make up the voting membership of the Academy) have never forgiven Sarandos for saying that you might as well watch movies on your mobile phone.

Titanic and Avatar director James Cameron even went so far as to say earlier this year that Netflix films shouldn’t be eligible for Oscars.

According to a number of Bafta and Academy members I’ve spoken to this week, the streamer needs to brace itself for its worst awards season ever.

One told me: ‘A Netflix film would have to be undeniable to get a win in any of the big categories, and none of their contenders this year are undeniable.’

Another thought Netflix’s two big movies, Jay Kelly and Guillermo del Toro’s Frankenstein, might not even make the nominations for Best Picture, which would be a brutal snub.

Those nominations will only be confirmed on January 22, after Academy members undergo initial voting rounds.

Warner Bros’ One Battle After Another, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, is heavily favoured for best picture, and DiCaprio looks certain to beat Clooney to the little golden man.

However, some sources say that Netflix has spent up to $20million on the awards push for Jay Kelly alone, and that the spend was ‘baked into’ Clooney’s contract for the film.

‘It would be common for a promise to be made that they would mount a proper Oscars campaign in order to persuade such a big name to make a Netflix film,’ I’m told.

Netflix sources insist that the awards push was not contractual. And they’ve not detected a cooling of enthusiasm for the streamer’s films since the sale was announced. But we will see.

There is a huge budget to spend on awards – and a huge hunger for success from Netflix, which has yet to land a Best Picture Oscar.

Despite an annual awards war chest said to be around $50million, pickings have been slim.

Last time Zoe Saldana won best supporting actress for Emilia Perez.

The previous year Netflix picked up a single Oscar… for a short.

This week, everyone is focused on the details of that $83billion sale: whether it will go through, and what Paramount’s David Ellison will do, to try to get his own rival bid accepted instead.

Meanwhile, a tiny reality check here on Jay Kelly (which, by the way, I greatly enjoyed).

After a fleeting theatrical run it is NOT the No 1 film globally in its first week on the streamer.

That honour goes to My Secret Santa, with Jay Kelly at… No 5.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been a good friend of Robert De Niro since they met back in 1993, and presented him with an honorary Palme D’Or in Cannes this spring.

The star of One Battle After Another revealed that he took a leaf out of his buddy’s book when establishing an on-screen relationship with his young co-star in the picture – 25-year-old Chase Infiniti, in her first feature film.

Speaking at the IMAX in London about the Paul Thomas Anderson picture, in which he plays an addled former revolutionary trying to find his abducted daughter, he said: ‘It was very important [to build a relationship with Chase].

In a lot of ways it reminded me of when, during Taxi Driver, De Niro was meeting with Jodie Foster… just to get comfortable with her. We got to do a lot of these moments of workshopping together, figuring out the dynamic… just hanging out with her.’

Of his role as Bob Ferguson, whose sad plaid dressing gown look became a popular Halloween costume this year, he added: ‘I watched a lot of films in preparation for this movie. The Lion In Winter, Running On Empty and Dog Day Afternoon – the intensity of that character trying to save the one person that he loves.

‘He is in a dressing gown and never changes, because he is not prepared. The idea is that he would just keep going, whatever he was wearing.’

Lots of women have lipsticks, tissues and train tickets bobbing around in their handbags.

But TV presenter Kate Garraway has taken it to another level. She recalls: ‘One day Ben Shephard [her former Good Morning Britain co-host] pulled out a bird’s nest.

‘It was an abandoned one; and it had been in there because of show and-tell at school.

‘He was revolted, and barely spoke to me for a week. He said: “Think of the germs!”

‘I was just delighted to have found it.’

Simon Cowell must be mellowing. The X Factor and Britain’s Got Talent judge is back on TV with his series Simon Cowell: The Next Act, in which he forms a boy band of seven – yes seven! – hopefuls.

Speaking at the launch on Tuesday he said: ‘There were times when I was not sure if we should carry on. One day I saw all of them sing really well and I think I cried, I was so relieved.’