I don’t know about you but I’ve had major déjà vu this week seeing a video of David Beckham kissing his daughter on the lips circulating.
In the wholesome clip shared on Instagram, Beckham’s daughter Harper, 12, can be seen applying his makeup while they sing along to Style by Taylor Swift ahead of her mum’s Paris Fashion Week show.
At the end, Harper applies a hearty mist of setting spray to her dad’s face before kissing him on the lips.
To lots of people, it’s a totally normal interaction between a father and daughter.
But every time Beckham kisses his youngest family member there is some level of outrage that emerges from the murky depths of the internet – and this time we waited with bated breath.
It wasn’t long before a handful of negative opinions started rolling in and the headlines popped up labelling the clip as ‘controversial’ and ‘divisive’.
One comment in response to the video, according to the New York Post, said: “Beautiful daddy daughter bond but a kiss on the lips doesn’t look right. She is a young lady now not a toddler.”
But you know what, compared to previous years when this has happened – and believe us, it’s happened a lot (more on that in a moment) – the negative comments were few and far between.
In fact, plenty of fans were quick to defend the former footballer and father-of-four’s actions, and to praise his parenting style and the strong bond he has with his child.
“Every girl needs a father like this in her life,” said one person in response to the video.
“Absolutely heart melting to watch. What a superb father and role model,” added another.
In response to any negativity about the father-daughter kiss, one fan wrote: “It’s absolutely appalling to me some people would make an issue with you kissing your own child.
“I’m in my 40s and I kiss my parents, siblings, and grandparents all on the lips. My son is 3 and I will kiss him on the lips the rest of my life— don’t care how old he is.”
Another parent said: “My son is 32 and I always give him a quick kiss on the lips and then proceed to bear hug him for the next ten minutes when he leaves to go home. There’s nothing sexual about it!”
On X, formerly Twitter, people have since been debating whether there’s anything wrong with the act after entrepreneur and social media personality Ed Krassenstein asked his followers what they thought of the exchange.
He posted: “Many people on social media praised him, while others criticised him for the kiss. To me, there is nothing wrong with a father kissing his daughter on the lips. I don’t understand why so many people get outraged over stuff like this. The world needs more fathers like Beckham in my opinion. Do you agree?”
In response, a lot of people suggested there was nothing wrong with the act but some acknowledged that cultural differences might be behind why some people take issue with it.
“My husband is British. His mother still kissed him on the lips when we started dating at age 17 and I, an American, was mortified. Different cultural roots means different family practices,” said one respondent.
Beckham has received plenty of negativity in the past for showing affection towards his daughter – in fact, it seemed to happen every year.
In 2022, Beckham shared a photo of him kissing his daughter during a morning walk. Cue, some people suggesting it was “inappropriate” and “disgusting”. One person commented: “This is your daughter don’t [sic] your wife.”
In 2018, another photo shared on social media showed him sharing a kiss with his then seven-year-old daughter at an ice rink. At the time, someone commented: “Why would you kiss your daughter on the lips it’s disgusting it’s the second time now he’s done that it needs to be taken further that’s just not right very weird!”
And in 2017, a similar photo of the father and daughter, who was then five, came under fire.
At the time Beckham told the Woody Talk Show: “I got criticised for kissing my daughter on the lips the other day.
“I kiss all my kids. Brooklyn maybe not, he’s 18 so might find that a bit strange. But I’m very affectionate with the kids, it’s how I was brought up, and Victoria.”
In July 2016, Victoria Beckham was also criticised by some fans for posting a photo of herself kissing her daughter on the lips.
But the Beckham family remain defiant in the way they show each other love – and science suggests there’s nothing wrong with that.
Child development specialist Brittany McCabe previously told Family Education that “studies say it is both healthy and beneficial to show acts of love to your growing and developing child to help with self-esteem, self-worth, and self-confidence”.
She added that some people will have been brought up in very affectionate households, and others not so much, so ultimately parents should decide what they feel comfortable with in terms of showing their child they love them.