No.Nonsense.

As someone who has navigated difficult family dynamics, I understand how tough it can be when you love someone but have to maintain distance for your own mental and emotional wellbeing. With that said, hanging the dirty laundry on the clothesline of social media is so destructive.

I’m sitting back and watching the whole Brooklyn Beckham saga. In an 800 word “essay” on Instagram, he goes scorched earth on his parents, especially his mom Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham and vows he will never reconcile with his family. Let me say, I do applaud him for standing up against the perceived negative treatment of his wife, Nicola Peltz. You should prioritize your spouse. But in his diatribe, he accuses his mom of narcissistic behavior where she has to be the center of attention in all things. That may be true. We only see the image presented to the public, not the way she is in private. He says his family has controlled his life. Well, okay, that’s called being parents who control the purse. You want them out of your business then pay your own bills. But anyway.

David and Victoria Beckham made a conscious decision to monetize their children. They used their children to build a brand of a happy family. It seems from Brooklyn’s post that the image doesn’t appear to be reality. Even after the estrangement, they continued to post messages to Brooklyn professing their love for him.

The problem with these messages is that when you make everything in your life for public consumption, you have only yourselves to blame when the image is blown up in public.

And for Brooklyn, if he needed space, take it. There is nothing wrong with making that choice. But to burn that bridge in front of the world leads to a greater disaster than the original cracks in the foundation of the relationship.

We’ve seen it with Prince Harry in his multiple interviews and his book “Spare” where he burned every familial bridge he had only to come back now and wonder why everyone is so angry with him. We’ve seen his wife Meghan publicly turning her back on her seriously ill father. Angelina Jolie aired every piece of dirt on Brad Pitt in her ongoing court battles that have lasted for years and alienated every one of their children from their father. Brad, on the other hand, had kept his mouth shut through it all. We watched a trial where Amber Heard detailed every bit of minutiae in her relationship with Johnny Depp.

I will admit to being one of those rubbernecks who looks to see if someone died in the car crash and I’m equally enthralled by these stories. That doesn’t make it right but it’s truth.

I have always been open about my own family’s struggles but I never played out the drama in public forums. When others tried to do so, I stepped out of the discussion. I never asked any other person to intervene on my behalf. And when the door was opened to a reconciliation, I embraced it.

Yes, there are times you might have to close the gate to the bridge but never burn the bridge down. You may find a time when you wish to cross it again and you can’t do so if you’ve destroyed it.