It is a comment Key says he didn’t make, but he won’t elaborate on how he described Beckham four years after he met him.
“After the match Beckham spent 45 minutes at a reception with the son of New Zealand’s … Prime Minister John Key,” Bower wrote in The House of Beckham.
Bower claimed the politician’s recollections were uncomplimentary.
“When Beckham was asked by Key’s son whether he was a ‘volatile’ player he replied, ‘Well, I can play in the centre, on the right and occasionally on the left side’.
Four years later, Key is said to have claimed “The footballer was as ‘thick as bats***’.” – but Key disputes he said it.
The alleged comment is said to have been made by Key during a visit to a prestigious Dunedin high school in late 2012.
Key has previously said the reported comment – which made worldwide headlines – was inaccurate but has shied away from revealing exactly what he said.
After the alleged comments made headlines internationally, Key said in an interview with Mike Hosking on Newstalk ZB, he didn’t owe anyone an apology. But he wouldn’t clarify what he did actually say.
“It’s probably not quite the way you see it in the paper. It was a private conversation, I was talking to a few people and that’s what he thought he heard.”
He also told TVNZ Breakfast: “What I’m saying is somebody has overheard a personal conversation and that’s their recollection of it.
“I’m not going to engage in the discussion about it – it’s their view. It wasn’t an open forum, the person thought they overheard me say something.”
And this week, he told the Herald that he “didn’t use those words”.
While he again wouldn’t reveal what he did say, Key added: “In fact my understanding is the journalist was either fired or sanctioned for making up the quote without any recording or evidence to back up the false statement.
“What I can say is what I have said on numerous occasions
“I met David once when the Galaxy were in NZ. I took Max to meet him. He was one of the most gracious, down-to-earth and lovely superstars I ever met.”
Max Key had spent time with Beckham at a function after the LA Galaxy’s match against the Oceania All Stars at Mt Smart Stadium in December 2008.
The match turned into a financial flop for the Auckland Regional Council (ARC) which lost $1.88 million in hosting the exhibition match. Just 14,409 tickets were purchased for the match – more than 10,000 under the budgeted break-even point.
General admission adult tickets ranged from $80-$150, with the only child concession being $40 tickets for zones behind the goals.
Corporate packages sold between $350 and $495-a-head.
What those who paid big prices to see the ageing footballer didn’t know was that he was already struggling with an ankle injury, Bower wrote in The House of Beckham.
And like numerous other competition and exhibition matches he played with LA Galaxy, he didn’t last the distance in Auckland.
“He arrived with a swollen ankle. During the match, he cracked a rib and dropped out.”
Given the event’s huge financial loss, the ARC’s handling of the tender process and the event was later the subject of an Auditor-General’s review.
The Auditor-General’s subsequent report concluded: “Despite the efforts of the council officers involved, the loss occurred because the LA Galaxy/Oceania ‘All Stars’ match was in essence the wrong event, at the wrong time, for the wrong price.”
Shortly before flying to New Zealand, Bower wrote how Beckham had signed a deal worth $31m to promote Armani underwear.
“To advertise his success, Beckham talked to ITV in a recorded interview about his underwear preferences: ‘It used to be boxers but now it’s Y-fronts’,” Bower wrote in The House of Beckham.
“And as usual, he was modest. Asked about his life in Los Angeles he replied, ‘I’m always starstruck by famous people’.”
It is one of many lucrative financial deals Bower pores over in the new book, published by HarperCollins. The financial aspects also reveal how David Beckham’s finances were set up to help him avoid taxes in the UK; something which Bower believes has counted against him in his bid to be knighted.
Promotional material for the book states: “Are their lives really as perfect as the Beckhams would like the world to believe?
“Through extensive research, expert sourcing and interviews with insiders, Britain’s most celebrated investigative biographer, Tom Bower, has unearthed a succession of revelations that give surprising insight into the reality of ‘Brand Beckham’.
“Exploring the couple’s relationship, and the truth about their football and fashion careers, their finances and their new life in Miami, The House of Beckham unravels the extraordinary reality of the business-savvy cultural icons to tell an engrossing, often astonishing story of money, sex and power.”
Its contents have been described as “jaw-dropping” and “bombshells”.
They include a series of affairs David Beckham is alleged to have had, including with a call girl as well as with his former assistant and bisexual model Rebecca Loos.
Loos went public with her claims of a passionate fling with the footballer in the early 2000s.
Loos later had a relationship with ex-All Black and Kiwis player Matthew Ridge.
Bower paints a picture of the Beckhams as having far from the idyllic marriage often portrayed in the couple’s Netflix show, which they produced.
The book also delves into the nature of the relationships the couple had with other high-profile people , including with Prince Harry and Markle.
A once close friendship between the two couples became strained after Markle became upset with David Beckham’s increasing friendship with Prince William, Bower claims.
“Meghan appeared to want to punish the Beckhams,” Bower wrote.
“Television pictures of the couple arriving at St George’s Chapel for the wedding showed Victoria stony-faced and David chewing gum. Meghan had not invited them to the wedding dinner. Her veto was an insult.”
According to the book, Harry later ghosted Beckham after he had travelled to Sydney to attend the Invictus Games after an earlier invite to head Downunder from the reluctant royal.
Harry’s cutting of ties wasn’t the only time Beckham has felt let down by the royals, according to the book.
So too is his ongoing wish for a knighthood, something Bower claims the footballer thought he would have received after heavily promoting England’s ultimately unsuccessful bid to host the 2018 World Cup.
The ongoing perceived snub – which Bower believes is due to how Beckham avoided UK tax due to the way his various companies were created – left his wife “gutted”.
Emails from Beckham’s account to his agent described the UK honours board as “unappreciative c****” according to the book.
“In his splenetic diatribe he dismissed the possibility of a CBE – ‘Unless it’s a knighthood, f*** off. They’re a bunch of c****. I expected nothing less.”
And despite being one of the world’s highest-paid footballers at his pomp, Bower wrote how Beckham left his lower-paid LA Galaxy teammates staggered at his “stinginess”.
That included players – some who earned a lot less for the full season than what he earned per week – having to split team dinner bills evenly.
Beckham also left officials from UNICEF – a charity he is a goodwill ambassador for – frustrated after his reluctance to donate from his own personal fortune towards an event in Asia he was to attend, Bower wrote in The House of Beckham.
In a series of emails obtained by a hacker and later published by Football Leaks, an email from his account stated: “I don’t want to put my personal money into this cause.
“To pour this million into the fund is like putting my own money in. If there was no fund, the money would be for me. The f****** money is mine.”
Neil Reid is a Napier-based senior reporter who covers general news, features and sport. He joined the Herald in 2014 and has 30 years of newsroom experience.
