David Beckham’s philanthropic image has taken a public beating after private e-mails with his advisers were supposedly leaked online. According to The Sun UK, the e-mails exposed how Beckham “attempts to use his charity work as a part of a campaign for knighthood.”
“Beckileaks” revealed how the football hero allegedly called the Honours Committee a “bunch of c***s*.” Also, he reportedly haggled with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) over his accommodation in Cambodia because he wanted to stay in the luxurious Amansara resort.
According to The Mirror UK, Beckham allegedly refused to pay for his £6,685 business class flight to the Philippines when he came to visit children affected by Typhoon Haiyan.
Beckham supposedly told advisers “there’s no way it should be costing me anything.”
It may be recalled that Beckham lifted the spirits of young Philippine typhoon survivors in Feb 2014 with a simple game of football in Tanauan as a “goodwill ambassador” for UNICEF. He also visited mothers in health care centers.
“As a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, seeing how children are being given a sense of normality amidst the rubble of their communities has been amazing,” Beckham later said in a post on the UNICEF blog.
Read: David Beckham uplifts young Philippines typhoon survivors
Beckham’s representatives and UNICEF defended the football star.
“This story is based on outdated material taken out of context from hacked and doctored private emails, from a third-party server, and gives a deliberately inaccurate picture,” said Beckham’s spokesman in a report by Independent UK.
According to Daily Mail, public support for David Beckham grew because of the incident. #SirDavidBeckham became popular on the micro-blogging site, Twitter.
