All of our group chats have been popping off, ever since Lily Allen dropped her new album West End Girl last week. We’ve all been wondering “who the f*ck is Madeline?” (and we appear to have had that answered) as well as rewatching (over and over again) the, not one, but two Architectural Digest house tours of the pair’s former homes.
The songs, Lily is insisting, are just loosely “inspired” by her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour (who she split from in December 2024) and that it shouldn’t be taken as “gospel.” We know this, and we’re taking it on board Lily, but… still… some of the lyrics are explosive… and incredibly detailed. To the extent that (if any of it might be true), they also really don’t place David Harbour (though he’s not explicitly named on the album) in the best light at all.
So, would it be possible, for him to bring a defamation lawsuit against Lily, or her production company? Like we saw with Drake bringing a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us? Which, FYI, was dismissed by Judge Jeannette Vargas in October this year, with the Judge ruling that Lamar’s lyrics as “nonactionable opinion.”
We asked Louise Lambert, co-CEO of Reviewed and Cleared, a specialist media law firm for her opinion. She told us that it is defamatory to call someone a cheater (though Allen doesn’t use those precise words on the record) but that “truth is a complete defence to defamation”, and that, “in the event of a claim, the person making the allegation would need to provide evidence of cheating in order to rely on this defence.” She said that there would also likely be an argument about what the lyrics actually mean, especially as Allen’s ex is not explicitly named.
On 'Madeline', it's also implied that Lily has received messages from this other person, via an American voice which speaks back to the singer. And if it were us, we'd definitely be keeping all the screenshots of those alleged conversations, and, maybe even, photographing all the items she sings she found in 'Pussy Palace' (though, again, we’re not taking it as gospel and Allen has since said that ‘Madeline’ is a “fictional character” and a 'construct of other' women).
In that track, Allen also sings “am I looking at a sex addict?" which Lambert thinks could be more of a privacy concern if spoken in relation to an identifiable individual. “Has the person concerned spoken about sex addiction themselves? And what is the public interest in exposing it?” she asked, adding that “phrasing something as a question can help, because it’s not an outright statement.” Again, Lily Allen has not explicitly said that this song is about David Harbour or said it’s entirely based on truth. She also recently said, in a chat with Interview published this week, “I don’t feel like I’m being mean. It was just the feelings I was processing at the time.”
David Harbour has yet to comment on the album, but when asked what she thinks her ex will think of it, Lily said: “I prefer not to think of that.”
The fact it’s an album, and piece of art, as opposed to an article (like this one, which has named both Harbour and Allen in it) could also help make the process legally sound. “The same [defamation] laws govern both [music and journalists] but, as an artistic work, there is perhaps more leeway in terms of what a song actually means. Allen has indicated herself that it’s not all necessarily true.”
Then there’s the whole public image thing, as Harbour’s not exactly the public’s favourite man right now (good luck for that Stranger Things tour). If he did sue, it would just be a really bad look. Especially if it meant Lily Allen had to release all of her receipts for the (alleged!) things she mentions in the album. Does it make us bad people for really wanting to see them though – if of course they exist?
Catriona Innes is Commissioning Director at Cosmopolitan, you can follow her on Substack and on Instagram.
