Despite being a bit estranged, David Beckham flew home to London today after learning that his father Ted had suffered a heart attack. Two years ago, Ted Beckham had written an unauthorized book titled, “David Beckham: My Son” that had reportedly caused a rift between father and son. However David still rushed home upon learning of his father’s condition.

“David Beckham flew back to the U.K. Thursday after his father, Ted Beckham, suffered a heart attack. The Los Angeles-based soccer star, 32, dropped everything and dashed to the airport as soon as he was told the news. ‘His father has had a heart attack and is currently being treated in [the] hospital,’ the athlete’s rep confirms. ‘David is flying back to be with him. He is obviously incredibly concerned and wants to be with him.’

“The elder Beckham, 59, from east London, suffered chest pains Wednesday evening. A London Ambulance Service spokeswoman confirms that its dispatchers were called and arrived just after 9:20 p.m. Ted Beckham underwent an operation to unblock his artery, his son’s rep tells PEOPLE. A spokeswoman at the London Chest Hospital says the elder Beckham is in ‘stable’ condition. He is reported to be in the intensive care unit.”

[From People]

And where is lovely wife Victoria Beckham, you ask? Well she was supposedly on “business” in Japan, but rushed to join her husband. And when they say business, I assume they mean the business of shopping, as that appears to be all Victoria does. And Japan would make a lot of sense – it’s a virtual treasure trove of Victoria Beckham-sized outfits.

Picture Note by Jaybird: Here’s some old, but cute, Beckham photos from last September. Images thanks to PR Photos.

Victoria Beckham and Courtney Love looked positively unhuman at the Marc Jacobs fashion show in NY last night. With messy curly hair, nails bitten to the quick, and an oddly angular face Courtney Love looked strange enough. She emphasized her unnatural appearance with freaky light blue contact lenses and pastel makeup. She looked plastically enhanced and made up but beat up, like a poorly-crafted sex doll test model that never made it out of the factory after it was eagerly tested by randy QA workers.

Victoria Beckham also looked like a doll that someone screwed up the proportions on. She wore a skin tight silver and purple dress with a criss-cross front that emphasized her melon boobs. Her chin looked particularly pointy and she contorted her face in various expressions that managed to convey the changes in her mood from haughty to stuck up. She had on some kind of shimmery body glitter that completed the look by making her bronzed skin look even faker than usual.

Celebrities must feel a lot of pressure to look perfect considering all the blogs and gossip magazines that pick them apart. When they go overboard like this, though, they make it all too easy.

Photoshop composite from PlanetHiltron.com

This sounds like pure fabrication based on the known fact that Posh was gunning to buy Madonna’s LA mansion, but I’m not above reporting it because it’s pretty juicy. Victoria Beckham is said to have bugged the shit out of Madonna in order to get her hands on her LA place. Madonna wasn’t having it and doubled the price, but Posh called her bluff and was willing to meet Madonna’s demands. Madonna then took the house off the market and shut Posh down when she kept pleading with her for it, including telling her that her marriage with David depended on it:

Madonna recently put her LA house on the market, attracting the interest of, and a generous offer from, the Beckhams. The kudos of living in Madge’s old gaff was simply too much for Victoria to resist.

So far so good, until Madonna changed her mind about selling and, to put Victoria off, upped the price slightly. By $10m. Victoria’s response? To match the ridiculous new asking price, leaving an exasperated Madonna with nothing to do other than take the place off the market.

Cue Posh phoning Madonna endlessly, whining about how denying them their dream home would destroy her and David’s marriage. Madonna pointed out that she had a perfectly good reason for withdrawing the house from sale; it had an apartment in the grounds that was ideal for her elderly and ailing father who she wanted to do her best by.

Posh’s response? “Sell me the house and he can come to visit as often as he wants!”

All of which elicited a terse “Fuck off!” from Madonna before she slammed the phone down for good.

[From the Holy Moly e-mail newsletter]

The Beckhams are now settled in their Beverly Hills estate, complete with a state of the art 1/2 million closet organization computer to help Posh make sure she doesn’t wear the same tiny outfit and matching color Birkin bag twice in a row.

In a recent entry to her blog, Posh demonstrated that she hasn’t quite got a handle on American vernacular, calling their home “totally major”:

“I am loving our new house — it is totally major!” she gushed in the first update on her blog since they moved in. “Just adding some of the finishing touches to it actually and then it really will feel like home.”

Posh Spice raved about Los Angeles’ warm weather and said she’s been checking out the city’s restaurants and, as she called them, beauty parlors.

“Well, you never know when you might need a facial!” she wrote.

[MSNBC]

And her husband finally started earning his $250 million paycheck from LA Galaxy, scoring a goal against DC United on Wednesday after a knee injury sidelined him for 8 weeks. While her husband celebrated on the field Posh didn’t even crack a smile. Maybe she was thinking about Madonna’s refusal to sell her mansion at any cost.

There are some things in life money can’t buy. For all those other empty feelings there’s excessive consumerism and starving yourself.

Header picture is a Photoshop composite from the talented artist at PlanetHiltron. Who wants to look at another picture of Posh in bug glasses anyway?

David Beckham has been benched for 8 weeks since he sprained his left ankle on June 6 in a qualifier match for the European championship between England’s national team and Estonia. He’s hardly earning his $250 million paycheck from L.A. Galaxy. He’s definitely boosted ticket sales, but if he continues to be sidelined than revenue is likely to suffer.

Sunday’s match at Boston’s Gillette stadium between L.A. Galaxy and New England Revolution is sold out, as is tonight’s soccer match in RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. against D.C. United. A lot of that is due to Beckham’s celebrity draw, which is rather unique in the sport of soccer.

In a press conference yesterday in Washington DC, Beckham said he wouldn’t start in tonight’s game, but that “hopefully, I’ll play some part of it.”

Boston fans are also hopeful that Beckham will strut his golden stuff at their match in three days, but it’s likely to only be for a short time.

Beckham trained for the first time with LA Galaxy just yesterday at RFK stadium in Washington DC. He was said to have only participated in “light training” and his ankle is still giving him trouble.

The manager of the England national football team, Steve McClaren, is set to visit Beckham in the states today, but Beckham doesn’t think that he’ll get to see him play that much. He thinks he’ll be good for about ten minutes play, and that he “can’t really apologise for being injured.”

But Beckham said that if McClaren was hoping to watch him play against DC United, he would see only him coming off the bench for a few minutes at best. The midfielder is struggling with an ankle injury that threatens to prevent him from playing in England’s Aug 22 friendly against Germany…

“I spoke to Steve a couple of days ago,” Beckham said. “We spoke about how my fitness was and how my ankle was. But whether it’s worth him coming over to see me for just 10 minutes I’m not so sure.”

Beckham took part in light training with his team-mates at the RFK Stadium yesterday - the first time he has practised along with the rest of the team since joining the club - but his ankle injury continues to bother him.

“He did train,” a Galaxy spokesman said. “He’s still doubtful for the game.”

DC United have sold all 45,000 tickets for a game that will be nationally televised.

Beckham, 32, added: “It’s an injury that everyone knew about when I first arrived. There will obviously be people who don’t understand, but I can’t really apologise for being injured, it’s a way of life for a sportsman. I’m hoping to spend some time on the field but that’s not definite yet.”

[From Telegraph.co.uk]

And rumor has it that the New England Revolution and the New England Patriots are setting up a hunky sports star pregame photo opportunity featuring David Beckham and new soon-to-be dad and fellow sports celebrity Tom Brady. Beckham has got to earn that quarter of a billion somehow. [Details from Boston Herald]

Here are pictures of Beckham at the press conference yesterday. Thanks to WENN.

Yesterday The Daily News ran an article about how Victoria Beckham had cellulite despite how thin she is. They ran pictures showing her legs looking not so smooth, and they were pretty nasty about it, saying she had “the classic signs of cellulite.” An image caption referenced her “unslightly saggy skin.”

ONTD had an article about it claiming the pictures were Photoshopped, and they used images from another photo agency of that same incident of Posh walking up the stairs in a short skirt to show that her legs look great.

Her legs do look great, but they were caught in the light looking dimply and the pictures are legitimate and not Photoshopped.

I bought the actual image from the photographer that Daily Mail uses, INF/Goff, and the pictures are real. You can see in the high res versions posted here that they’re not altered.

If this is how Posh looks, I would hate to see my legs close up in harsh light.

Update: A lot of commentors are still understandably skeptical about this photo. As I mentioned I purchased the high res version directly from the photography agency. So it could have been altered on their end, but it wasn’t altered by The Daily Mail.

The first thumbnail below links to the high res version:

Man I’m confused. I thought they moved here months ago. Isn’t that why we kept hearing about Victoria filming her show? I guess it was just prospecting or something. The Beckhams made their way to America on Thursday, moving from London to Los Angeles for David to join the L.A. Galaxy’s soccer team. The pair bought and decorated a $22 million dollar mansion before moving. The Washington Post wondered if Americans would even care about the Beckhams.

But the question may be whether Los Angeles, already teeming with world-class stars, is interested in the arrival on Thursday of the “Posh” member of the soon-to-be-reunited Spice Girls pop group. Beckham’s husband, British soccer star David, has signed a contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team.”

“Victoria Beckham, 33, is a household name in her native England, Europe and much of Japan, where she is seen not just as arm candy to a hot soccer player, but as a pop star turned fashion icon with her own line of jeans, sunglasses and perfume.

“She remains largely unknown to Americans. Many have seen pictures of Victoria Beckham, but most have never heard her speak.

“’She is coming over here as a mega-star and there is all this buzz, but Americans are curious to know why,’ said Melanie Bromley, West Coast bureau chief of Us Weekly magazine.

“’To have a new superstar for us to obsess about and analyze would be a welcome relief. But for Victoria to become one of those people, she will have to get some personality. At the moment, she’s a slightly two-dimensional character for Americans.’”

[From the Washington Post]

It wouldn’t hurt Victoria Beckham to get some personality. I think that’s my favorite quote of the year. It’s so direct. It is a huge gamble to completely uproot yourself from a place where you’re incredibly famous, and move to a place with much more competition, hoping to establish that same level of fame. She does seem like a robo-wife. I’ve never heard her say a thing; she appears to be a body that walks around, without any soul. Apparently she has enough soul to royally piss off a lot of the crew on her show. But she’s still not interesting enough to have an actual series, which was the original plan for her show. It’s something like a 2-part documentary now.

I can’t help but wonder how well she’ll fit into the L.A. scene. She always seems so grumpy, with that perma-scowl on her face. Someone should tell her that leads to wrinkles. Even if it doesn’t. Just to get some other expression out of her. Some other funny quotes about Victoria:

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com’s coverage of Beckham on her recent trips to Los Angeles has been scathing, referring to her as ‘the doll-like diva’ or ‘poshtitute spice’ because of her apparent penchant for things short, tight or black.

Her characteristic pout has hardly helped.

‘Beckham’s only real accomplishments appear to be looking constantly hungry and pissed off and shtupping (having sex with) one of the sexiest men in the world,’ TMZ.com commented in June.”

[From Reuters]

With the whole Paris/Lindsay/Britney ban, I have to admit that I’m excited to have someone new and weird to write about. But I do this for a living, I doubt the rest of the country awaits Posh with the fervor that she hopes for. As far as I know there’s been no countdown to her move equivalent to the Olsen twins turning 18 or anything. I think this is one of those situations where it’s a big deal to her, but probably not so big to the rest of us. Though I can’t wait to write more about her $500,000 closet. It really puts my $50 closet to shame.

You’ve undoubtedly heard that David Beckham has scored a five year, $250 million contract with The Los Angeles Galaxy soccer team after leaving Real Madrid. Britain’s World Cup team may think his celebrity distracts from the game, but in America it will only bring viewers and publicity to a less popular sport. David has a children’s soccer academy that is run out of the same home stadium of his new team and it seems like a smart move for him.

I heard an interview with Beckham on CNN and he said “my reasoning for moving over there are… to provide opportunities for other players.” He said he loves working with kids in his soccer academy. He also said that living in LA will be a great experiene for his entire family.

CNN also interviewed the editor of US who said that David and Victoria have the opportunity to become the next Hollywood power couple, since they’ve all broken up. He seems to have forgotten about Brangelina.

Posh was recently seen looking at homes in LA, and now that her husband’s career is moving there we’re sure to see her out shopping with Katie Holmes. People say that it’s only a matter of time before David and Victoria convert to Scientology, but I give them more credit than that. Even though they come off as dumb they seem kind of savvy to me in their own way, and I bet they’ll stay away from the cult.

The Holy Moley newsletter, which publishes a lot of crap but I run it anyway, claims that Posh’s new short hairstyle isn’t any more real than her super-long extensions. They say she’s lost a lot of hair due to anorexia, and is using filler hair or something.

Luckily for Posh, one of the biggest industries in American prisons is providing real hair for use in extensions. Victoria’s people have made a large issue of the fact that she has recently got rid of her lengthy extensions in order to sport a more natural look.

The truth is somewhat more hair-raising. She still has a full head of hair extensions, though much shorter. One of the crueller side effects of eating disorders is the loss of hair on the crown of the head. And the growth of Brian Blessed-type mutton chop whiskers on the cheeks.

It sounds like speculation to me and I bet her hair is real.

I’m a firm believer that women are at their best in a pencil skirt and fitted jacket, or anything 1940s-tailored, for that matter. Curves are accentuated, waists are defined, and a pair of ultra-feminine pumps clinches the ensemble. There are a few celebrities who come back to this look again and again: Eva Mendes, Christina Aguilera, and Victoria Beckham (say what you will about her, but she does look pretty great about 60% of the time) have all been known to put a retro spin on suit separates, with beautiful results.

If you’re having trouble finding something va-va-voom enough, here are a few online stores to check out:

Stop Staring Clothing

Danger Dame

Mode Merr

Germany’s most prestigious award show, The Bambis, were on last night and I watched them for a while. There wasn’t as much hype as American awards shows and they seemed rather subdued in comparison, although there were a lot of excellent musical guests. The German reality shows lack the manufactured drama of the American reality shows, so it’s not surprising that the awards are kind of matter-of-fact too. There were awards for sports, arts and culture as well as films and acting. Here’s an article in German with a list of winners.

Samuel L Jackson was honored for his film career. Victoria Beckham was also on hand to help present the fashion award to Roberto Cavalli. She sauntered on stage in a tight Cavalli gold metallic asian dress. She made a joke to Wetten Das presenter Thomas Gottschalk that his shirt matched her outfit and ended up doing a little dance with him on stage.

The most interesting thing that happened on camera was that she kind of half-tripped while walking down the stairs afterwards but caught herself. It wasn’t too obvious, but you could tell she was a little embarassed. It’s at the very end of the video below.

Here’s the video. I actually taped it, but Schmudo at YouTube has ripped it already:

TMZ is reporting that Victoria tried to get the Associated Press to sign some sort of confidentiality agreement that they wouldn’t publish her pictures from the event or reveal anything they learned about her or something. It sounds weird, but if you read between the lines it kind of suggests she’s preggo:

At the Bambi arts awards ceremony in Germany, Associated Press said “no thanks” to the Spice Girl by refusing to sign an agreement in which Posh would limit their coverage of the alleged fashionplate, seen here in a gold embroidered bedspread from the Osaka Hilton.

The document, which also raised eyebrows with Reuters and two German photo agencies, would have allowed Beckham to get copies of all photos, with the ability to use them for promotional purposes, while restricting photogs from revealing “confidential information” they might learn about the former Spice Girl during the ceremony. Gosh, Posh, what are you hiding?

The organizers of the event eventually came up with another agreement which would allow AP to cover the event as long as they promised not to take any pictures of Beckham. They shot down the agreement, forgoing coverage of the show. The other agencies agreed, but said they would purposefully not take photos of her in protest.

It’s also possible that the “confidential information” involves a seven pound weight gain. Posh no longer looks super-gaunt to me. It’s hard to tell if she’s got a baby bump though because of the busy print on the gown she’s wearing.

It’s not really true that all the other photo agencies shunned her George Clooney-style, because Splash News has pictures of the event. People are saying the dress is ugly and not worth photographing anyway, but she looked damn good on camera to me.

Most pictures from Splash News Online. Victoria is seen with Karl Lagerfeld, but presented an award to Roberto Cavalli.

Holy Hefty Cinch Sak, Batman! What is this? Is this the latest creation Posh dreamed up while multitasking in her bubble bath?

I don’t know if this cinched garbage bag number is from Posh’s new fashion line (to be released in January 2007), but if this is the preview, I don’t want to see the rest. Well, maybe I do…. but just for shits and giggles.

photos via Haute Gossip