David Beckham says filming ‘difficult’ documentary made him feel ‘uncomfortable’
David Beckham has said creating his hit documentary series made him feel “uncomfortable”, as he was forced to discuss “things I’d never spoken about before”.
The football star spoke about the process of making Beckham, which was released on Netflix last year, at the Royal Television Society’s annual conference.
When asked by session presenter Jane Featherstone how he could make an “authentic documentary” about himself with his own Studio 99 firm, he said he worked with a team and a director he knew would push him.
The documentary series delved into Beckham’s life and career
The 49-year-old said it took him a “long time” to say yes to making the series – but once decided, he wanted it to be helmed by someone who would come at it “from a different angle” to the story people may think they know.
“It was really difficult,” Beckham said, of being interviewed for about 50 hours by director Fisher Stevens. “It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I was going to make it… when I retired, I wasn’t ready to talk about my career and talk about what had happened over that time.”
But as he approached the 10-year anniversary of his 2013 retirement from football, he thought: “Maybe this is the right time.”
Beckham said both he and his wife, Victoria, were “nervous” about the idea. “Because as much as people think they know everything about us, [they] don’t really. We don’t really let kind of those doors open to our house… I’m not going to lie, I hated probably almost every moment…”
Beckham said his former Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson, encouraged him not to read headlines at the time
As the audience laughed, the former England and Manchester United star clarified: “I wouldn’t say I hated it. I would just say it was very difficult…
“I’ll go back and say it wasn’t hate, but it was really difficult because there were moments when I was talking about things that I’d never spoken about before.
“This was a time when I was playing in my career and there wasn’t social media. Everything that was said about me, I knew what was being said – but the boss would turn round to me, Sir Alex Ferguson, and say, ‘don’t read the papers today. Do yourself a favour, don’t read the papers, go out there and play’. And that’s really all that I kind of saw.”
Beckham said he did not want to see what was in the series until it was finished. “I didn’t go into the edit. I didn’t see any cuts. I saw the odd clip, but I didn’t see anything. And I just let Fisher have that control.”
Praising Stevens, he said: “Finding the right director took a while… But then when I met Fisher, I was like, okay – this is the man that is going to make me feel really uncomfortable. And I think I had to feel uncomfortable to make the documentary that we made…
“Fisher made me feel uncomfortable from the moment we sat down to talk, to the moment I finished. And I really needed that because I needed a director to come at it from a different angle. Because everyone kind of knows my career and my life and things like that. So I needed someone like him to bring something different out of me.”
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David Beckham speaks to Sky News at documentary premiere
Beckham said watching the series for the first time at the premiere was an “emotional” experience, but he “loved” the result. On Sunday night, the programme picked up the award for outstanding documentary series at the Emmys in the US.
The star also spoke about Victoria Beckham’s upcoming documentary series, announced earlier in the summer, which will chart her career from Spice Girl to fashion designer and beauty entrepreneur.
Asked if he would be giving her “notes” now he has his own documentary behind him, Beckham laughed and replied: “Do you know my wife?”
He continued: “I’m actually really excited about this one with Victoria because she is an amazing woman. She’s a strong, driven, passionate person that has gone from being a Spice Girl, and to be respected in this industry is very, very tough.
“She’s worked hard for the last 17, 18 years on her business and all of a sudden she’s having the success that she really deserves. And no one really sees what she does. No one really sees the amount of work she puts in.
“She’s over everything, from where people sit at the shows to what they wear to everything that goes into her business. She’s over every single piece and I want people to see that.”
A woman who saw a man falling from an upper tier at Wembley Stadium says a similar incident at an Oasis concert over the weekend in which a fan died makes her wonder whether lessons have been learned.
Stephanie Good, 39, said a man fell during a Euro 2020 match between England and Croatia at Wembley in June 2021.
He landed “right next to where we were” on the “stairwell between rows of seats”, she said.
Named as Jon, he reportedly survived but suffered two broken ankles, a fractured femur and fractured pelvis just before kick-off.
Ms Good said she tried to give feedback but was unable to and felt the “emergency response was really lacking”.
Oasis, meanwhile, said they were “shocked and saddened to hear of the tragic death of a fan” at their Wembley concert on Saturday.
The man reportedly fell from the stadium’s upper tier.
In his 40s, he was found with “injuries consistent with a fall” and pronounced dead at the scene, the Met Police said.
Ms Good, an NHS manager from east London, said what happened at the Oasis gig was “so similar” to what she witnessed that it made her wonder “were lessons learned”?
Liam and Noel Gallagher on stage for the first Wembley night of the Oasis reunion tour. Pic: Lewis Evans
During that incident, among stadium staff “nobody seemed to know what to do”, she told the Press Association.
She thinks the man may have been trying to attach a flag to the front of a stand and “somehow managed to fall straight over”.
She said: “They (staff) didn’t seem well-trained in terms of how to respond to a really big emergency.
“Their stewards were kind of paralysed a little bit by fear, or they just weren’t well trained and didn’t know how to call for paramedics.
“It was us who were sort of shouting at them that they needed to get some paramedics.
“The first person on the scene wasn’t a stadium paramedic or St John Ambulance. It was an off-duty firefighter who had seen the guy fall and ran down to just try and offer some help.”
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Regarding the follow-up, Ms Good said staff moved spectators to other seats but did not ask for witness statements.
She added: “They didn’t seek any input from people who’d seen the incident or the aftermath of it. They didn’t seem interested in speaking to anybody about it.
“I was a bit concerned, because I felt that the emergency response was really lacking.”
She then tried to get in touch to give feedback, but was unable to do so and did not receive a response to a message on social media, she said.
A Wembley spokesperson said: “Wembley Stadium operates to a very high health and safety standard, fully meeting legal requirements for the safety of spectators and staff, and is certified to and compliant with the ISO 45001 standard.
“We work very closely and collaboratively with all relevant event delivery stakeholders – including event owners, local authorities, the Sports Grounds Safety Authority and the police – to deliver events to high standards of safety, security and service for everyone attending or working in the venue.”
Sean “Diddy” Combs has been denied bail ahead of his sentencing on prostitution-related charges.
Judge Arun Subramanian said the hip-hop mogul had failed to show sufficient evidence he is not a flight risk and also cited admissions of previous violence made during his trial.
Combs, 55, has been in prison since his arrest in September last year.
During a two-month trial, jurors heard allegations that he had coerced former girlfriends, including singer and model Cassie Ventura, into having drug-fuelled sex marathons with male sex workers, while he watched and filmed them.
Diddy fell to his knees after the verdict was delivered last month. Pic: Reuters/ Jane Rosenberg
In July, he was found guilty of two counts of transportation for prostitution – but cleared of more serious charges of racketeering conspiracy and sex-trafficking, which carried potential life sentences.
The rapper’s legal team hailed this a “victory” and immediately applied for bail ahead of sentencing, citing his acquittal on the top charges.
After this was denied, they submitted another application last week. Judge Subramanian has now rejected the request again.
In denying the motion for bail, the judge found Combs had failed to show sufficient evidence to counter arguments he is a flight risk, writing in a court filing: “Increasing the amount of the bond or devising additional conditions doesn’t change the calculus given the circumstances and heavy burden of proof that Combs bears.”
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He also found that an argument by the music star’s legal team that the squalor and danger of the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where he is being held, did not warrant release.
“The public outcry concerning these conditions has come from all corners,” the judge wrote. “But as Combs acknowledges, MDC staff has been able to keep him safe and attend to his needs, even during an incident of threatened violence from an inmate.”
As well as Combs’s bail application, his legal team has also filed a motion calling for him to be acquitted or given a new trial on the prostitution-related charges only.
The judge has not yet responded to this application.
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How the Diddy trial unfolded
How long could Diddy be jailed for?
Combs is due to be sentenced on 3 October and could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Discussions on sentencing guidelines which followed the jury’s verdict suggest it is unlikely he will be jailed for this long, with an estimate of around two to five years, taking into account time already served.
However, it is ultimately up to Judge Arun Subramanian to decide the rapper’s punishment.
On Friday, Donald Trump was asked during an interview about a potential pardon for Combs following speculation about the issue.
The president said it was unlikely, adding that the rapper was “very hostile” during his presidential campaign.
Combs, who co-founded Bad Boy Records and launched the career of the late Notorious BIG, was for decades a huge figure in pop culture – a Grammy-winning hip-hop artist and business entrepreneur, who presided over an empire ranging from fashion to reality TV.
As well as the criminal conviction, he is also facing several civil lawsuits.
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