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Published 09:28 11 Jun 2026 GMT
David Harbour has addressed Lily Allen's cheating allegations for the first time since the release of her fifth studio album.
The Stranger Things star and the 'Smile' singer split in early 2025 after four years of marriage, and Allen later released her album West End Girl, which many listeners believed was about the breakdown of their relationship.
Throughout the project, the 41-year-old singer-songwriter touched on the themes of infidelity, open relationships, gaslighting, and sex addiction.
On a track titled 'Madeline,' Allen appeared to sing about reluctantly accepting the conditions of an open marriage.
"We had an arrangement, be discreet and don't be blatant / There had to be payment, it had to be with strangers," she sings, before asking: "Is it just sex or is there emotion?"
In another song called 'P**sy Palace', she references coming home to "a shoebox full of handwritten letters from brokenhearted women".
And in the album's closing track 'Let You W/In,' she sang: "I will not absorb your shame, it's you who put me through this."
"I can walk out with my dignity, if I lay my truth on the table," she added.
Harbour, 51, had remained largely silent about the album since its release, but has now addressed it during an interview with Variety.
"It was weird," he said about the album's release. "I do believe that it is the privilege of every artist to use their experience to create art, and so I respect her for doing that."
"I can't really say that much more, because it's my private life. In spite of the fact that a lot of people don't allow me a private life - I value it. And I also value the lives of the people that I interact with privately. I just won't speak about that."
When asked whether he wanted to respond to any of the claims made on the record, the Hellboy actor declined.
"Stories are complex, and that’s why I say I respect her creation of art to channel her experience. It wasn’t my experience," he said.
Allen has never explicitly confirmed who or what inspired specific songs on the album, though she previously described West End Girl as "a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be," per The Independent.
Speaking to The Perfect Magazine, the 'Hard Out Here' singer explained why she was determined to create a project that pushed boundaries.
"If what you're doing isn't provocative, what's the f***ing point?" she said. "And if it's not scary, what's the point? I'm not here to be mediocre."
"My gift is my pen and my writing and the way that I observe the world. It’s not singing, really, and it’s not certainly not dance routines, and it’s not whatever else it is that other artists might have going in their favour. My strength is my ability to tell a story. And so I’m going to lean into that. I have to. It’s all I have," she added.
She also stressed that commercial success was never the driving force behind the project.
"None of this album or anything around it, apart from the sexy photos, has been approached with commercial success in mind," Allen said.
The end of the marriage was challenging for both Allen and Harbour.
Following the split, the 'LDN' songstress checked herself into a treatment facility at the start of 2025.
"The feelings of despair that I was experiencing were so strong," she told British Vogue later that year, adding that it was the closest she had come to relapsing after six years of sobriety.
"I've been into those places before against my will, and I feel like that's progress in itself," she continued. "That's strength. I knew that the things I was feeling were too extreme to be able to manage, and I was like, 'I need some time away.'"
Harbour also revealed that he suffered a nervous breakdown in December, causing him to miss celebrations surrounding the final season of Stranger Things.
"I do suffer from some confusing stuff - it's confusing as hell," he told Variety. "I think a lot of people have a friend or a brother or a co-worker that deals with mental health stuff, and they're probably pretty confused when that person gets depressed or gets manic or has an episode."
He added: "Under times of extreme stress, that can cause somewhat erratic behavior, and it's embarrassing, and I'm ashamed of it. It's not something I choose, and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
Published 11:50 25 Oct 2025 GMT
Lily Allen is not pulling any punches with her new album as she seems to make many pointed remarks at David Harbour.
Allen’s last full album was 2018’s No Shame and in the intervening years she insisted she had continued writing, but “emotionally attached” material was hard to come by.
As she told Perfect Magazine: “I just didn’t think it was any good.” She added: “It’s easier to write funny things that are rooted in darkness or anger or… terminal hatred.”
West End Girl was said to be written and recorded in just ten days, capturing Allen’s shock, grief, confusion and anger as her marriage with the Stranger Things star fell apart amid accusations of infidelity.
In her own words: “It was hard to make this record. It was incredibly manic, and it was emotionally traumatic. But nothing felt forced. It just sort of fell out of me. And I think that’s what happens when you’re writing from a place of truth, and without an agenda.”
She explained: “This record was purely for me, and it was a way of processing things that I was going through in my private life.”
At the same time Allen stressed that: “There are things that are on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that’s not to say that it’s all gospel.”
And: “There are definitely some things that happened in my real life that are reflected on this record.” She described the collection as the product of “a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be.”
Lily Allen and David Harbour split after cheating accusations. Credit: Dia Dipasupil / Getty
The album’s storytelling structure reportedly begins with Allen falling in love, moving to New York with her two daughters and buying a brownstone: she sings: “Now I'm looking at houses / With four or five floors / And you found us a brownstone / Said, ’You want it? It's yours’ / I could never afford this / You were pushing it forward / Made me feel a bit awkward.”
Then comes the first sign of trouble: her partner’s demeanor changes when she lands a lead role in the West End. She sings: “That’s when your demeanor started to change … I thought that was quite strange / I found that strange.”
The relationship spirals into days of absence and the revelation of an arrangement around an open marriage: “I’ve been trying to be open / I just want to meet your needs," Allen sings in 'Nonmonogamummy'.
And she confronts the reality of betrayal in “Ruminating”: “I can't shake the image of her naked / On top of you, and I'm disassociated / Did you kiss her on the lips and look into her eyes? Now that it's done / Baby, won't you tell me that I'm still your number one? / ‘Cause you're my number one.”
One of the album’s most brutal sequences has her entering an apartment where her partner supposedly practices karate, only to find “a room scattered with sex toys and a shoebox full of handwritten letters from broken‑hearted women.”
By the closing tracks she draws a line under the relationship: “I will not absorb your shame, it's you who put me through this … I can walk out with my dignity if I lay my truth out on the table.”
Allen summarises her mission: “My strength is my ability to tell a story. And so I’m going to lean into that. I have to. It’s all I have.”
Lily Allen has not pulled any punches. Credit: Ammar Rowaid / Getty
Reviews of West End Girl have been overwhelmingly enthusiastic.
One critic called it “a brutal, tell‑all masterpiece,” describing the musical of deceit and suffering in which Allen “seizes control of her narrative and holds little back.”
Another described it as “a victorious comeback” with “a lot of grief and misery [but] Allen’s always had a knack for making devastation sound exciting.”
And from The Guardian: “What ties the songs together beyond the story they tell is the striking prettiness of the tunes, which seem, jarringly, more evocative of a romantic fairytale ending than the anger and unhappiness the lyrics convey.”
Meanwhile, some listeners have remarked that it adheres to that familiar Allen recipe - sharp, pithy pop - that blends wit with emotional reckoning.
Allen herself admitted: “If what you’re doing isn’t provocative, what’s the point? And if it’s not scary, what’s the point? I’m not here to be mediocre.”
Harbour has declined to get drawn into tabloid coverage, saying: “I’m protective of the people and the reality of my life… There’s no use in that form of engaging [with tabloid news] because it’s all based on hysterical hyperbole.”
Published 11:58 27 Oct 2025 GMT
A woman has come forward alleging that she had an affair with David Harbour while the Stranger Things actor was still married to Lily Allen, claims that surface just as the singer releases her deeply personal new album, West End Girl.
The record, which dropped on October 24 via BMG, marks Allen’s first full-length release in seven years and explores themes of heartbreak, betrayal, and self-discovery following her separation from Harbour earlier this year, as reported by The Standard.
Rumors of a split between the British pop star and the American actor began circulating at the start of 2024, amid whispers of infidelity on Harbour’s part.
In interviews, Allen has since opened up about entering a treatment center to cope with what she described as the “emotional turmoil” of the breakup. That pain appears to have fueled West End Girl, which has been widely praised as one of her most raw and revealing works to date.
One track in particular, titled 'Madeline' sees Allen directly confronting her partner’s alleged affair: “How long has it been going on? Is it just sex or is there emotion?”
The lyrics (interpreted by fans as a message to Harbour’s supposed lover) sparked widespread speculation about who 'Madeline' might be.
According to The Mail on Sunday, a woman named Natalie Tippett has now claimed that she was romantically involved with Harbour during his marriage to Allen.
When asked by the outlet about the song 'Madeline', Tippett said: “Of course I’ve heard the song. But I have a family and things to protect. I have a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and I understand this is going on. It’s a little bit scary for me.”
Tippett declined to elaborate on her alleged relationship with Harbour, saying only that she didn’t feel comfortable discussing the situation further at this time.
On another track, titled 'Tennis', Allen sings about discovering incriminating messages on her partner’s phone: “I read your texts, and now I regret it… If it was just sex, I wouldn’t be jealous. You won’t play with me, and who’s Madeline?”
When asked whether she knew her private texts might inspire a song, Tippett reportedly said: “Yeah, I just don’t feel comfortable talking about it at the moment.”
Despite speculation, Allen maintains that the character 'Madeline' is not based on any real person. Speaking to The Sunday Times, the 39-year-old insisted that the figure is a “construct of others”, a symbolic amalgamation rather than a literal one.
Allen also used the interview to reflect on modern views of relationships and fidelity: “I just feel we are living in really interesting times, in terms of how we define intimacy and monogamy, people being disposable or not,” she said.
“The way we are being intimate with each other is changing as humans. Lots of young women are not finding the idea of marriage or even a long-term relationship that attractive anymore.”
Neither Allen nor Harbour has publicly commented on Tippett’s claims.
Despite the surrounding controversy, West End Girl has been met with strong reviews. In a four-star write-up, NME hailed it as “a sleek, smart collection that sees Allen back at her very best.”
The review described the album as emotionally charged but not gloomy, noting Allen’s trademark blend of wit and vulnerability. “Since ‘Smile,’ Allen’s always had a knack for making devastation sound exciting,” the review reads. “There’s rage behind the pulsating ‘Ruminating,’ where she struggles with the realities of an open marriage, while ‘Madeline’ is a dizzying cocktail of uncertainty, fury, and empathy.”
The publication concluded that the project “feels like a much-needed purge”, a cathartic moment for an artist long known for turning personal pain into pop brilliance.
Published 11:55 05 Mar 2026 GMT
Fans spotted a cryptic dig Lily Allen appeared to make at her ex-husband, David Harbour, during a recent performance.
The singer, 40, began dating the Stranger Thing actor, 50, in 2019 and the couple got married in a Las Vegas ceremony officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator in September 2020.
The couple moved in together in Brooklyn, New York, along with Lily's two daughters, but rumors of a separation began in December 2024.
Lily appeared to spill some of the details of their separation in her album West End Girl, stating in October 2025 that it was partially based on the "demise" of their relationship.
Lily appeared to make another statement during the start of her West End Girl tour at the Glasgow Royal Concert Hall on Monday, through the choice of outfits she wore.
Fans spotted that during '4Chan Stan', Lily was wrapped in a swath of fabric printed with handwritten lyrics and receipts from tequila bars and Bergdorf Goodman, a deliberate choice reflective of the lyrics in which she discovered her husband bought another woman an expensive handbag at the luxury department store.
For 'Madeline', a song which relates to text messages she found from a mystery woman to her husband, she wore a sheer negligee from Valentino with a marabou-trimmed silk robe.
While performing 'Pussy Palace', Lily performed on a bed on stage with a Duane Reade bag next to her, referring to the song's lyrics about finding a shoebox of love letters from other women.
It's not the first time Lily has made a sartorial choice related to her lyrics, as she dressed as the children's book character Madeline for Halloween, a pointed reference to the mystery woman.
West End Girl was said to be written and recorded in just ten days and captures Lily's feelings as her marriage fell apart.
In her own words: “It was hard to make this record. It was incredibly manic, and it was emotionally traumatic. But nothing felt forced. It just sort of fell out of me. And I think that’s what happens when you’re writing from a place of truth, and without an agenda.”
She explained: “This record was purely for me, and it was a way of processing things that I was going through in my private life.”
At the same time Lily stressed: “There are things that are on the record that I experienced within my marriage, but that’s not to say that it’s all gospel.
"There are definitely some things that happened in my real life that are reflected on this record.”
She described the collection as the product of “a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be.”
Since splitting from David, Lily has moved on with Jonah Freud, 28, a London-based writer and artist who is the great-great-grandson of Sigmund Freud.
Published 17:31 08 Jan 2025 GMT
Lily Allen has opened up about her she reacted when her ex-husband David Harbour made some quite forward sexual requests.
The celebrity couple’s relationship became the subject of intense speculation after reports surfaced that Harbour, 49, had an active profile on the celebrity dating app Raya, per the Daily Mail.
Allen, 39, reportedly uncovered the profile through her own investigation, leading to their separation.
The singer was seen in New York on Tuesday, looking downcast and without her wedding ring, fueling rumors about the breakdown of their marriage.
While the couple has not made any public statements about their split, Allen previously alluded to challenges in their relationship during episodes of her podcast, Miss Me?.
In one episode, she opened up about her husband’s sexual preferences.
"I wonder if I kink-shame my husband,” Allen said last summer. “Because he quite often asks for things, and I’m like: ‘No, babe, it’s not happening.’”
She added: “I’m not like: ‘You piece of s***, how dare you ask me to do that!’ I’m just like: ‘Hmm, headache. Little headache, got a bit of a headache – maybe not tonight.’”
In another episode, Allen revealed she used AI to draft arguments during disputes with Harbour.
“If me and David have had an argument and I need to articulate it, I’ll be like, ‘Write me a long text message about an argument that started with the dishwasher and ended in an argument about our finances.’”
Reports suggest Allen turned detective to confirm her suspicions about Harbour’s activities.
According to The Daily Mail, she rejoined Raya, where she had originally met Harbour, and discovered his profile, which described him as “visiting New York from Atlanta” and a “closet nerd that plays tough guys on your TV.”
His chosen profile song was Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy.
A source claimed: “Lily was looking for women on Raya and cross-referencing them with women David follows on Instagram to try to figure out who he was seeing.”
The insider added: “She has never even looked at anyone else since she met David. She is devastated.”
Allen reportedly called off the relationship a month before Christmas. The couple had planned a holiday together in Kenya, but those plans were abandoned following the breakup.
Harbour, who purchased a home in Atlanta last year to be closer to the Stranger Things set, had reportedly been distant from the family home in Brooklyn, where Allen resides with her two children.
Allen’s friends believe Harbour had been interested in other women since autumn. “By the time they broke up, she had become convinced he had a secret girlfriend,” said a source.
Harbour is yet to address the allegations.
Published 15:16 13 Nov 2023 GMT
David Harbour has publicly addressed the state of his marriage with Lily Allen after rumors that their relationship is on the rocks circulated online.
The 48-year-old Strangers Things star has been married to the 38-year-old British pop star since 2020 and is a stepdad to her two daughters Ethel, 11, and Marnie, 10.
In recent weeks there have been reports of a rift in their marriage after Allen seemingly unfollowed her husband on Instagram just weeks after celebrating their third wedding anniversary on the platform, per The Mirror.
The speculations continued, with additional sources claiming that the couple was living "separate lives" as the 'Smile' hitmaker was performing in London's West End production of The Pillowman, while Harbour remained at home in the US.
The couple were last pictured at a showbiz party in New York back in September when the musician returned to the US. The split rumors continued to persist a month later after Allen shared pictures of a Halloween party she was hosting on her Instagram stories, with her husband nowhere to be seen.
However, Allen and Harbour seemingly brushed off any divorce allegations as they were photographed together at a basketball game in New York on Wednesday (November 1), per The Evening Standard.
Now, in a new interview with PEOPLE, the Violent Night actor spoke in his own words about his marriage to the 'Somewhere Only We Know' songstress, and confirmed that it is going "so great".
But he admitted the SAG-AFTRA strikes - which ended last Thursday - had affected their relationship, explaining that as an actor, he was "sitting on the couch depressed as hell" with "nothing to do".
"It's been bad," the actor told the outlet. "It's like what happened to me in the same way in COVID, where you think to yourself like, 'Oh, now, I kind of have all this time.' And then you just check your Google alerts every five minutes and are just neurotically insecure."
"My wife likes when I go to work because it’s nice for her to have her life and me to have my life and for us not to just annoy each other by being around all the time," he continued.
He spoke proudly about getting to raise their "great" children, and expressed that "as our marriage continues, we grow closer and closer".
The romance between the couple first began after they matched on exclusive dating app Raya. They soon confirmed their relationship after they made their first public appearance before going Instagram official with a picture from a trip to Disneyland.
The pair then took their relationship to the next level by getting married in a Las Vegas ceremony that was officiated by an Elvis Presley impersonator in September 2020.
After tying the knot three years ago, the Hellboy star revealed to GQ Hype the story behind their romance and how he knew the 'Hard Out Here' musician was the woman for him.
"She claims to have fallen in love at first sight with me - I mean, who wouldn’t? I remember the exact moment. It was our third date," he shared. "I was just in this phase, where I was like, I’m just going to be brutally honest about everything, because why lie?
"And I told her something about my life, about my beliefs," he continued, adding, "It would take a really extraordinary person to be accepting of the things that I said. And I remember thinking: Wow, that’s somebody I want to be around."
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