David Beckham fears more ‘personal’ revelations from email cache after cops probe leak as wife Victoria jets out of country
'Brand Beckham' tarnished by leaked emails claiming to show footballer exploited charity work and blasted Honours Committee as 'c***s'
COPS were called in last night as David Beckham feared more revelations would emerge from a cache of leaked emails between him and his advisers.
The superstar, whose image was tarnished by messages claiming to show he exploited his charity work as part of an effort to win a knighthood, is now scared about what more will come out.
It comes as it was confirmed a police probe had been launched in Portugal, where his PR chief Simon Oliveira’s Doyen firm has its HQ.
The former England captain’s representatives have spoken to specialist investigators in Portugal about the shattering leaks.
Yesterday, as Becks faced a backlash over the scandal, wife Victoria, 42, was spotted at Heathrow as she jetted out of the UK for New York Fashion Week.
Meanwhile Beckham, who blasted the Honours Committee as “unappreciative c**ts” for not making him a Sir, was seen at a London skate park with son Brooklyn, 17.
The dad of four and Unicef ambassador has given more than £1million to the charity, as well as raising £4.3million for it through his Beckham 7 fund.
He fears private conversations between himself, Oliveira and best man David Gardner will be published.
These are said to include “banter” about well-known figures.
Yesterday The Sun told how Beckham criticised the Honours Committee’s decision to make singer Katherine Jenkins an OBE.
His team demanded Unicef pay for a £6,685 business-class flight for a charity trip although sponsors had laid on a private jet.
And Beckham moaned that involvement in the Ingenious Media tax avoidance scheme was stopping him winning the knighthood.
The bombshell dossier was obtained by the Football Leaks website and published by European sites including Der Spiegel, L’Equipe and El Mundo.
Beckham’s team, who have said the emails are hacked and doctored, are focusing on the person behind the leak.
A total of 18.6million emails, communications and documents were accessed from the servers of Doyen Global, the sports management firm run by PR guru Oliveira, 43.
The bombshell material was taken in 2015 and last year, and contains three years’ worth of information.
Many messages involve Gardner, best man at the Beckhams’ lavish 1999 wedding.
A source said: “David fears some very personal details are set to be released, especially as he often speaks very candidly about all sorts of things going on his life.
“Gardner has been with David since day one and is one of his closest confidants. They share pretty much everything.
“David is also very close to Oliveira, who has been with him for years and been instrumental in building up his brand.
“Over the years they have spoken in detail about David’s career and his life after football, as well as the mundane talk about the business.
“At the same time they are friends who have a bit of banter so there might be a fair bit of embarrassing material in the emails too.
“It would be the same with anyone’s emails being read in public.”
Sources in Portugal said yesterday the country’s Policia Judiciária was investigating the hacked emails, which have been dubbed Beckileaks.
A source said: “The cyber-crime unit is involved and they are taking it extremely seriously. It has gone right to the top.
“They have confirmed they are investigating a serious case of football leaks, without actually naming Beckham.
“But the feeling is that they have spoken to Beckham’s people and they are very keen to get to the bottom of this and find the hacker."
David and Victoria have spent years building up Brand Beckham and are extremely conscious of their public image.
Beckham has 32.6million followers on Instagram and uses the site to promote his family life, global travels and business interests. He has been a goodwill ambassador for Unicef since 2005.
He runs his own DB7 foundation and also heads a separate charity with Victoria.
Beckham’s Unicef 7 fund has raised more than £4.3million since it launched in 2015 — money which has been used to support children all over the world.
More than £500,000 has been sent to train teachers and fund schools in Bangladesh, where around 2.6million children do not regularly go to school.
Another £800,000 has helped support children with disabilities who experience discrimination in central and Eastern Europe.
The fund has also sent money to projects in Latin America and Africa, and Beckham himself visited a centre in Swaziland which supports kids living with HIV.
HIS HELL AS HATE FIGURE
BECKHAM became a national hate figure after he was sent off during the 1998 World Cup against fierce rivals Argentina.
Then 23, he was blamed for England’s exit from the tournament in France. Fans were so furious that a sarong-clad effigy of him was hanged outside a London pub. More controversy followed with Beckham hit by a flying football boot in 2003 after a post-match bust up with Man Utd manager Sir Alex Ferguson. And in 2004 the star’s PA Rebecca Loos, left, claimed she had been having an affair with him behind the back of wife Victoria. Beckham called her claims “ludicrous”.
But emails showed how Beckham, worth an estimated £280million, complained about being approached by Unicef’s ambassador relations manager Chloe Edwards about contributing cash.
In one he allegedly wrote: “Chloe asked me outright which I was p***ed off about . . . I don’t want to do it and won’t do it with my own money.”
Yesterday he faced criticism over the leaked emails, led by Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan, who tweeted: “Oh. My. God. RIP Brand Beckham...”
But there was also a swell of support calling for Beckham to be knighted from fans online.
Under the hashtag #SirDavidBeckham, many defended him as a national hero who scored vital goals for England and helped London win the 2012 Olympics.
A source said of the leaked emails: “These were private messages between David and his most trusted advisers. They were never meant for public consumption and should have remained confidential.”
Unicef’s deputy executive director Justin Forsyth also backed the global star. He tweeted: “For over 15 years David Beckham has been a dedicated and passionate @UNICEF ambassador, helping many thousands of children.”
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Last week Beckham spoke candidly on BBC Radio 4’s Desert Island Discs. He admitted making “mistakes” and having “tough times” during his marriage.
He added: “Do we stay together because it is a brand? Of course not. We stay together because we love each other and because we have four amazing children.”
He also spoke about his “passion” for working with Unicef.
He added: “More than anything, one of the most important things in my life at the moment is my charity work.
“That is what gives me the most pleasure out of what I do.”
REPORTS ACROSS EUROPE
THE emails surrounding Beckham were published across Europe over the weekend.
Yesterday influential German magazine Der Spiegel published a lengthy feature damning the star’s attitude. The story was also printed in French sports paper L’Equipe, alongside the headline “Beckham, the reverse of a playboy.” And respected Spanish paper El Mundo also ran the story with the headline “The hidden face of Beckham.”
Oliveira said in a statement: “This is based on outdated material taken out of context from hacked and doctored private emails from a third party server and gives a deliberately inaccurate picture.
"David Beckham and Unicef have had a powerful partnership in support of children for over 15 years.
“The David Beckham 7 Fund specifically has raised millions of pounds and helped millions of vulnerable children around the world.
“David Beckham has given significant time and energy and has made personal financial donations to the 7 Fund and this commitment will continue long term.”