Pity
Posh 'n Becks trying to set up house in Los Angeles after the British
couple arrived here in 2007 so the soccer superstar could play for the Galaxy. First
the young thirtysomethings were refused wine service at a top restaurant because they carried
no I.D.s on them.
Then there was the fame factor — or loss of it: Recognized on sight everywhere else in
the world, David and Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham drew only blank
looks from waiters, photographers and others who didn't follow soccer or
the careers of former British pop singers.
Madame Tussaud's/Getty Images
These are some of the gossip-lite tidbits to emerge from The Beckham Experiment, a new book about the English midfielder written by Sports Illustrated
writer Grant Wahl. While it will probably be greeted with shrugs in L.A.,
the book has predictably set the British press buzzing. The Independent U.K. sums up the Beckhams' crimes:
“[T]hey behaved like typical out-of-towners, failing to establish
themselves in the premier league of local celebrity . . . unwisely choosing to hitch themselves to the falling star
of Tom Cruise.”
America
comes in for a lashing too, as a nation “where drinking laws are enforced with a
draconian zeal that is perhaps only rivalled by the Arab world.” The
Independent dwells on the fact that the “thirsty” Beckhams had to endure their
restaurant meal without a bottle of Pinot Grigio, as though this were some form of waterboarding, and described the incident as a “humiliating experience.”
Beckham
arrived here with a $250 million, five-year contract in hand, though
some of his L.A. Galaxy teammates were lucky to be pulling down $12,900 per year.
What the Galaxy didn't seem to know was how accident prone Beckham is,
and it wasn't long before he became an injury magnet and bench warmer. After spending several million
dollars of his own money, he recently
engineered his escape from his contract to return to European competition, though he is
scheduled to play a little more for L.A. before leaving here for good.
Part
of the Random House flackage preceding the tome's July 14 drop includes
promises that Wahl will detail how Beckham's management company “engineered
a shadow takeover of Galaxy.” Somehow we think that will be as
interesting to Angelenos as a restaurant diner's claim to have left his
I.D. at home.
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