What a PR crisis lawyer for the rich and famous actually does.

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham have hired a high-profile PR lawyer, and the timing is.... interesting.

E! News has confirmed that the couple have hired Jenny Afia from Schillings, a firm renowned for its work in reputation management and crisis PR.

The decision follows persistent rumours of a rift with Brooklyn's famous parents, David and Victoria Beckham, which potentially began with the couple's disapproval of Brooklyn's brother Romeo dating Kim Turnbull, a DJ who was previously romantically linked to Brooklyn.

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But this is where things get interesting. A source told the Daily Mail that Romeo and Kim had just split up after seven months together.

Brooklyn and Nicola's relationship with the rest of the Beckhams has reportedly grown more distant over the past year, with the couple's absences from recent family events only stoking the rumour mill.

And now, Nicola and Brooklyn have hired Jenny Afia, a British solicitor known for helping celebs manage their public image and address mounting media scrutiny.

Watch the hosts of Cancelled discuss Brooklyn Beckham. Post continues after video.

According to an E! source, the intention for hiring Afia is "not for reputation management, but to set the record straight, combat spread of misinformation," they claimed.

"Ironically, the inaccurate reporting proves exactly why one hires legal counsel, to set the record straight and combat the spread of deliberate misinformation."

The couple is in solid hands. Afia is widely recognised as one of the UK's top privacy and reputation lawyers, specialising in protecting and rebuilding the public images of her famous clients.

Afia is best known for representing Prince Harry and Meghan Markle: Afia has been a vocal defender of Meghan, representing her in her privacy and copyright infringement case against the Mail on Sunday. Afia has been involved in legal matters concerning Prince Harry, particularly in cases involving the UK media and privacy issues.

Jenny Afia has worked with Meghan Markle. Image: Getty.

She even made TV appearances to discuss the British tabloid's narrative against Meghan. "There was a real kind of war against Meghan," Afia said in the Netflix documentary Harry & Meghan.

"This barrage of negative articles about the breakdown of the relationship with her father was the final straw in a campaign of negative, nasty coverage about her."

The E! News source wanted to make it clear that any link from Brooklyn and Nicole to the Sussexes is coincidental.

"There is absolutely no connection to Meghan and Harry," the insider said. "Schillings is a respected firm with a wide range of clients."

This is true. Schillings has represented a bunch of high-profile celebrity clients, including Adele and Elton John.

Afia also represented Johnny Depp in his defamation case against The Sun newspaper, along with Brad Pitt, when Afia was Head of Legal in his divorce proceedings against Angelina Jolie.

Johnny Depp on the final day of the libel case against The Sun newspaper. Image: Getty.

This kind of work Schilling offers involves a range of measures, such as enforcing privacy rights, challenging defamatory or misleading stories, gathering information about potential threats or negative stories before they break, releasing public statements, ensuring digital security to prevent leaks, and managing sensitive relationships with the media.

Schillings is known for using legal tools such as injunctions to prevent the publication of damaging or private information. This means a story is buried even before it sees the light of day.

For example, a partner at the firm, Keith Schilling, has previously spoken about Premier League footballer Ryan Giggs, and how the firm obtained super-injunctions for Giggs, which stopped the media from publishing details of his affair.

The hiring of a crisis PR lawyer reflects a broader trend amongst high-profile celebrities who want to protect their reputations in an era of relentless social media scrutiny, cancellations and tabloid speculation.

For example, multiple sources reported that Justin Baldoni and his production company, Wayfarer Studios, enlisted crisis PR experts as part of their strategy to manage the intense media scrutiny and allegations surrounding It Ends With Us and Blake Lively.

For Nicola and Brooklyn, they might want to ensure their side of the story is heard — but safely on their terms.

Speculation about a family feud has been ongoing since their 2022 wedding, with everything from wedding dress choices to the couple missing David's 50th birthday parties only fuelling more tabloid stories.

In a chat with Glamour, both Nicola and Brooklyn spoke about the emotional toll of constant media attention and "fake news."

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In the interview, Brooklyn shared some choice words about his priorities.

"Ignore the noise. Keep your head down, work hard, be kind. People are always going to talk," he said.

"What matters is that we're happy together."

Nicola said the media speculation is often not worth her energy. "It's not always easy. On TikTok there are always random stories popping up about us," she said.

"When I see fake news, my instinct is to shut it down. But it's not worth it. I just scroll past and move on."

Feature image: Instagram/@nicolaannepeltz/@brooklynpeltzbeckham.