Beckham’s image takes a hit
Damning dossier reveals famous footballer’s rants at lack of knighthood.
David Beckham’s multimillion dollar image has been shattered after damning emails revealed he used charity work as part of a desperate campaign to win a knighthood.
In a series of bombshell leaks, the football legend branded the honours committee “unappreciative c****” and dismissed lower awards, ranting, “unless it’s a knighthood f*** off” reported the Sun.
A number of European media outlets reported the furious star also initially refused to use his own money to fund his charity and turned down millions of pounds in work to raise money for Unicef.
He set up a sham segment on the Jonathan Ross chat show to raise the prospect of a knighthood and backed the “stay” campaign in the Scottish independence referendum to win favour with “the establishment”.
European media outlets also claim he moaned that his involvement in the Ingenious tax avoidance scheme was hampering his chances and he raged when British singer Katherine Jenkins was handed an OBE.
The former England captain turned philanthropist and businessman raged at the failure of officials to make him Sir David and admitted his charitable efforts were a conscious effort to win an honour, reported the Sun.
One of his closest advisers even said his work with Unicef and other good causes had “a halo effect” for the 41-year-old star.
The cache of leaked messages between Beckham, who holds an OBE, and his closest aides could see his reputation shattered as it reveals the concerted efforts to win favour from the honours committee and the public.
After missing out on a knighthood in 2013, the footballer — who has an estimated networth of $478 million — wrote a furious email to his long-time PR man Simon Oliveira, raging that classical star Katherine Jenkins had been handed an OBE.
And railing at the honours committee, the organisation who recommend worthy recipients for titles, Beckham also blasted, “It’s a disgrace to be honest and if I was American I would of got something like this 10 years ago.”
In response, Oliveira wrote to Beckham’s agent and best friend David Gardner: “This gives us even more reason to work this year on Unicef, the armed forces, and other charitable commitments.”
He also advised Beckham to “remain positive” in public, and avoid jibes or critical comments at the committee in public.
But his efforts hit a road block when HM Revenue & Customs in the UK clamped down on the use of the Ingenious scheme used by a host of celebrities to reduce their tax bill.
The financial loophole involved investing in loss-making companies to offset tax obligations, and officials are said to have been concerned that his involvement was not compatible with becoming Sir David.
The shocking dossier about Beckham was obtained by the European Investigative Collaborations network and Der Spiegel, which were then published across Europe on respected newspaper websites including L’Equipe in France and El Mundo in Spain. news.co.au