‘World-famous actress’ Nicola Peltz’s latest TV project SAVAGED by critics, while Victoria Beckham gets the last laugh
As the bitter Beckham family feud continues to rage, Nicola Peltz has been subjected to a new humiliation; The last TV series he starred in was savaged by critics, who called it ‘offensive, stupid and unbalanced’.
The 31-year-old heiress, once described as a ‘world famous actress’ in a lawsuit filed against wedding planners by her billionaire father, stars in Ryan Murphy’s new body horror series The Beauty.
Critics who binge-watched the 11-episode series came to a harsh verdict, accusing it of ripping off award-winning The Substance with ‘excessive’ sex and violence.
Bella Hadid, Ashton Kutcher, Evan Peters and Meghan Trainor are among the expanding A-list contingent, but critics say even star power can’t hide what one critic described as ‘shameless braggadocio’.
Metro’s Rebecca Cook uncharitably gave the new series just one star, with the headline reading: ‘Ryan Murphy’s offensive new TV show is almost unwatchable.’
He wrote: ‘After seeing the trailer and reading the list of guest stars – Meghan Trainor! Bella Hadid! Nicola Peltz Beckham! – I was expecting nonsense. But I wasn’t prepared for the endurance challenge that went through these 11 episodes.’
Critics who binge-watched the 11-episode series came to a harsh verdict, accusing it of ripping off the award-winning The Substance with ‘excessive’ sex and violence.
The 31-year-old actress is probably best known for her highly publicized romance with husband Brooklyn Beckham.
Other critics were no kinder. The Independent said the series was not a ‘patch’ of films from which it clearly borrowed, while the Irish Independent called it ‘dirt’.
But for Nicola, this brutal reception was depressingly familiar.
The 31-year-old actress is probably best known for her much-publicized romance with husband Brooklyn Beckham, 26, as well as being the daughter of billionaire businessman Nelson Peltz and former model Claudia Heffner.
Her acting debut came at the age of 11 in Deck the Halls, a festive flop that had a paltry six percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a popular review aggregation site for movies and TV shows.
He later starred in The Last Airbender, which was derided as ‘an abomination of cinema’, and the blockbuster Transformers: Age of Extinction, which critics deemed ‘total hype and no hope’.
Despite repeated attempts to reintroduce herself as a serious screen presence, Beauty now joins a growing list of projects that have failed to convince critics.
His 2024 directorial debut, Lola, was panned by critics and audiences alike, with many branding it a “vanity project”.
The then-29-year-old heiress wrote, directed and starred in the film, which premiered in limited theatrical and digital release.
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Lola, Nicola’s directorial debut, fell out with critics and audiences who dismissed the film as nothing more than a ‘vanity project’ (pictured in the film)
Nicola plays the title character, a young girl trying to save enough money to get herself and her younger brother out of the toxic home they share with their mother.
Nicola takes on the role of a desperate young girl who, despite being born into great wealth, tries to save enough money to escape a toxic home with her younger brother.
Critics described the film as a ‘glorified advertisement’ for Nicola and accused it of being ‘poverty porn’, exploiting deprivation for entertainment.
Many viewers at the time said they felt he failed to grasp even a basic understanding of the world he was trying to portray.
‘I felt like the whole movie relied on her looking beautiful and giving flattering close-ups,’ one reviewer said, while another criticized her ‘eyes closed’ acting.
One user on Instagram added: ‘I wish rich people like you would stop trying to tell stories like this… You have no idea what the reality of this character is like.
‘I find it offensive to working-class women who actually live that reality, having to see a billionaire throw themselves into a dream acting role.’
Speaking to WWD at the time, Nicola defended portraying herself as a struggling, drug-addled teenage stripper despite living a life of almost unimaginable privilege.
‘For me, I feel very attached to the characters I create,’ he said. ‘But of course I didn’t grow up like Lola.
‘I am an actor and my dream is to look at the world from different perspectives.’
The actress was also criticized for using her elite background to pursue her passion project.
He enlisted the services of 28-time Grammy-winning producer Quincy Jones, the man behind Michael Jackson’s Thriller album, to work on the soundtrack.
Quincy’s daughter Kenya Kinski-Jones, 32, is engaged to Nicola’s older brother Will, 39.
The bruising reception to her latest venture on the big screen comes at an awkward moment for Nicola, who is already under intense scrutiny amid an escalating row with her husband’s famous family.
Just this week, Brooklyn launched a vicious social media attack on her parents, David and Victoria Beckham, airing years of grievance in a scathing six-page statement.
Just this week, Brooklyn launched a scathing social media attack on her parents, voicing years of grievance in a scathing six-page statement.
David and Victoria “fear their son Brooklyn will be left with nothing” after allegedly signing a strict pre-nuptial agreement before marrying Nicola
Victoria looks to be enjoying the last laugh as Nicola’s latest screen outing falls apart
In painful posts on Instagram on Monday night, the photographer and wannabe food influencer said he did not want to reconcile with his family after a fight earlier this year in which he missed his father’s milestone 50th birthday and his knighthood.
He claimed Victoria canceled making Nicola’s wedding dress “at the eleventh hour”, that her parents pressured her to sign over the rights to her name, and that her mother “hijacked” her first dance with her new bride, dancing “inappropriately” on her in front of 500 guests.
He also said he was ‘controlled by a family that values publicity above all else’ and that he had found ‘peace and relief’ after struggling with crippling anxiety since being with his wife Nicola.
Despite once declaring himself a ‘mama’s boy’, Brooklyn focused heavily on Victoria in his lengthy statement; Insiders said the harsh criticism left him ‘devastated’ and ‘torn to pieces’.
But while Nicola’s latest screen outing has been shattered, Victoria appears to be enjoying the last laugh.
As the family feud continues to impact public opinion, Victoria has her first solo number one today after a spectacular fan-led social media campaign propelled her to the top of the charts.
Posh Spice’s 2001 single Not Such An Innocent Girl, which showcased her sensual dance moves, reached number one on the iTunes chart in the UK and Ireland.
More than two decades after hitting number one with Kylie Minogue’s Can’t Get You Out Of My Head, the song has racked up more than 3.3 million streams on Spotify, with supporters rallying behind the hashtag #TeamPosh.
