The continuing fallout of Lily Allen’s new album, ‘West End Girl’: What she’s said, the status of her relationship with David Harbour — and what’s happening with their Brooklyn townhouse
Since British singer Lily Allen dropped her album West End Girl on Oct. 24, fans and critics have tried to dissect its lyrics, speculating whether the songs chronicle the end of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour.
Allen said she wrote all the album’s tracks in just 10 days during a difficult stretch in December 2024, two months before the pair announced their separation after four years of marriage. Neither she nor Harbour has publicly spoken about their breakup over the past year. Though not officially divorced, the couple listed their five-bedroom, four-bathroom Brooklyn, N.Y., townhouse — featured in an Architectural Digest video tour in February 2023 — for $8 million on Oct. 27, just days after the album was released.
West End Girl has racked up over 17 million streams on Spotify in its first four days so far, fueling online discussions surrounding what may have happened in Allen and Harbour’s relationship.
Here’s what’s happened — and what they’ve said — since the album’s release.
What Allen has said since the album’s release
Allen has not directly addressed any of the online speculation, which includes theories that multiple songs are about Harbour cheating on her, and that “Tennis” and “Madeline” are about Allen finding out and confronting the woman he had an affair with.
She has, however, been active on social media promoting the album. In her most recent TikTok post, she played along with a viral meme inspired by her song “Madeline.” Over the weekend, she thanked fans on her X and Instagram feeds “for the love on West End Girl” and shared a behind-the-scenes montage of herself recording the album last December on TikTok.
In an interview with the Sunday Times of London published on Oct. 25, Allen said she knew West End Girl “will piss off lots of people.”
“Intimacy is inherently messy,” she said. “There are definitely things I experienced within my relationship that have ended up on this album.”
In a separate interview with Interview magazine, published on Oct. 28, Allen said she no longer feels the anger and confusion that inspired her songwriting.
“I feel very differently about the whole situation now,” Allen said. “At the time [of writing the album], I was really trying to process things, and that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge.”
Has Harbour commented on the album?
Harbour has not publicly commented on the album or addressed any fan or press theories that West End Girl is about him. When asked by the Sunday Times about whether Harbour had listened to the album, Allen said, “I don’t know if I can answer that.”
The actor has not said much about his separation from Allen since it was announced earlier this year. “I’m protective of the people and the reality of my life,” he told British GQ in April. “There’s no use in that form of engaging [with rumors] because it’s all based on hysterical hyperbole.”
Since the album’s release, Harbour’s only public appearance was on Oct. 25, when he was spotted at Disney World in Orlando, Fla., with his stepdaughters, Ethel, 13, and Marnie, 12, whom Allen parents with ex-husband Sam Cooper.
What’s next for the couple?
While Allen referred to Harbour as her “ex-husband” in a recent interview with British Vogue, no divorce filings have been made public as of reporting. Allen told Interview magazine that she’s back on dating apps, but this time she is not interested in dating “another famous person.”
“I’m not in a relationship,” she said, “but there are some people that I meet up with.”
While Harbour has kept quiet, career-wise, he will be back in the spotlight next month when the first half of the final season of Stranger Things premieres on Netflix.
