Lily Allen’s Infidelity Album: West End Girl
Lily Allen explores her ex’s infidelity in her new album West End Girl. Allegedly, David Harbour broke the rules around their open marriage arrangement.
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Diss track? That’s so 2023 Shakira. Try diss album. Last Friday, British singer Lily Allen dropped West End Girl, essentially one long f*ck off to her cheater ex, actor David Harbour of Stranger Things fame. Allen divorced Harbour last December for his wandering dick and numerous affairs. They were only married four years. One his dalliances, with his costume designer, went on for three years (allegedly).
But like so many FWs before him, Harbour needed a cover for his serial cheating. Enter “open marriage.”
Why are you so cynical about open marriage, Tracy?
Because I read my mail, CN.
Polyamorists get cheated on too.
As I’ve argued in my last three podcasts, and new book chapter, open marriage is zero defense against cheating. All it takes to be a cheater is to secretly and unilaterally break the terms of an agreement for one’s own benefit. In fact, cheating is its own high. FWs need the deceit. Permission is a buzzkill.
So, while Allen thought she was on the same page with Harbour on the ground rules about their relationship, he was off merrily screwing around with impunity.
But one part of the new Lily Allen divorce album is when she calls out someone named Madeline as the other woman and the person who David Harbour allegedly broke the rules of their open arrangement with. The album has 14 songs which appears to tell the story of their turbulent marriage. The Stranger Things actor has been accused of having a cheating on her, which he has never responded to.
In Tennis, the first mention of Madeline, Lily sings in its final moments “So I read your text, and now I regret it. I can’t get my head round how you’ve been playing tennis/ If it was just sex I wouldn’t be jealous. You won’t play with me and who the f**k is Madeline?”
Who is Madeline?
Natalie Tippet, the costume designer.
You have to admit, that supercilious look is pure OW.
Lily sings:
“How long has it been going on? Is it just sex or is there emotion?/ He told me it would stay in hotel rooms, never be out in the open/ Why would I trust anything that comes out of his mouth? I’m not convinced that he didn’t f**k you in our house”.
‘We had an arrangement/ Be discrete and don’t be blatant. There had to be payment/ It had to be with strangers/ But you’re not a stranger, Madeline.”
No, Lily, she was your husband’s coworker. Come sit on the comfy chump sofa with us.
Cosmopolitan magazine reports:
When asked if she had heard Lily’s music inspired by the situation, Natalie reportedly “rolled her eyes” and told the Daily Mail, “Of course I’ve heard the song.”
Natalie kept her response minimal, explaining, “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.”
Oh, you have a toddler — and a three year affair? Has anyone suggested that David Harbour take a paternity test?
Natalie Tippett admitted she left Allen whingy, self-serving voicemails, which brilliantly Allen incorporated into her diss track.
“Madeline” says: “We don’t speak outside of the time we spend together/ And whenever he talks about you, it’s with the upmost respect’.
The Utmost Respect
Yes, nothing conveys respect like fucking another woman’s husband on the down low and rolling your eyes when asked about it.
On the “Madeline” voicemail, she tells Lily:
“I hate that you’re in so much pain right now/ I really don’t wanna be the cause of any upset. He told me you were aware this was going on and that he had your full consent. If he’s lying about that, then please let me know/ Because I have my own feelings about dishonesty.
“Lies are not something that I want to get caught up in. You can reach out to me any time, by the way/ If you need any more details or you just need to vent or anything/ Love and light, Madeline.”
Natalie, you had THREE FULL YEARS to check out this man’s story.
THREE FULL YEARS.
For the record, David has yet to weigh in on the West End Girl drama. Back in April, he told GQ that he avoids interacting with tabloids and chatter surrounding his split with Lily.
“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,” he said after a long pause, adding that anything he says would encourage “a salacious shitshow of humiliation.”
Humiliation is fine for the chump, but never the FW. You can all stop being hysterical. David is above such interactions. Unless he’s flying them into Atlanta to fuck them on set.
I still haven’t recovered from Kacey Musgraves’ broken heart album…not sure I can listen. Thanks for letting us know so we can support Lily.
Well done, Lily! I hope she sees this post. And I hope that album sells like hotcakes.
“No, Lily, she was your husband’s coworker. Come sit on the comfy chump sofa with us.”
That couch is certainly comfy and I’d rather sit with fellow chumps than be the pathetic pos that gets off on being an AP.
What strikes me about this is that Lily Allen’s earlier songs were so strong and irreverent and funny and joyful and called out BS so authentically.
So take one smart strong woman who doesn’t accept poor treatment from men… you have someone who is going to be a challenge. Predator alert!
In comes her future husband, and the mind games and lying begin.
Gradually she is undermined by the very simple subterfuge of lying. The predator moves her to a different country, away from her network. She is more reliant on her predator.
The predator breaks her down, abuses her trust, causes her to doubt and question herself, isolates her. He is enjoying himself, tricking her and seeing her more vulnerable and sad.
The fun for these people is in breaking strong people down. It’s not really about the act of sex or romance at all. It’s just about the joy of deceiving people who trust them, the joy of lying! The joy of hurting kind, loving people.
These men, like the tabloids, want to nestle up close to the loving, strong, creative, beautiful women and bask in their warmth, and also at the same time want to destroy them and desecrate them.
I know, I was married to one of them. I was a strong, funny, joyful, loving woman, too. I don’t think these guys go after any other kind.
I love what she did with this album, which is to simply tell the truth. I relate, relate, relate. You go, Lily. And thank you.
Yes. I am sure that there was a level where he felt powerful by breaking me down. I was happy and mostly confident. I remember a huge red flag where I sought solace from him after I made a terrible mistake and he tormented me and made it so much worse. What a mistake to ignore that behavior from him.
On point—thanks for this eloquent summary of predators’ motives: deceiving and desecrating beautiful loving women. My former FW mocked polyamory and open relationships while deceiving me the entire 6 years we were supposedly “together” and in a monogamous relationship. I am now over him, thankfully, and Chump Lady & this community have been hugely helpful.
Reading posts like yours are affirming and help me get stronger and wiser. Thank you!
The heart-warming bits of this story are that (firstly) Lilly put her story out there for all, rather than being crushed by the shame of being cheated on as all to often happens to Chumps and (secondly) that because of the way that she put her story out there, when someone hears it, she will get paid.
Sucks to be David and Natalie/Madeline ……. and more power to Lilly!
LFTT
… the other moral of this story is, don’t post pictures of yourself in your underwear on social media! Hello!
oh LOL I think it’s her bathing suit. Well don’t post those either. It’s thirsty and lame.
I am simply ensorcelled by the fact that an entire diss ALBUM dropped. And just in time for the final season of Stranger Things! (and alas-one more pseudo-celebrity I have to distance myself from…)
Like, it had to get green lit, pass through corpo, get edited, and it still released!
(I should really work on my editing and find a publisher…anyhow…)
Using Fuckwit Logic, it absolutely stands to reason that if you are already in an open arrangement that it does not take a huge logical leap for additional secrecy to enter the mix. One of these days I will sit down and meta-analyze the accounts of fuckwittery-I would be curious to see exactly how often(I would imagine it’s 70%+) “that you knew about” came up.
Stay Mighty!
I never heard or read the word “ensorcelled” in my whole life…had to look it up. Noe I will hear it tomorrow in some bazaar context
I am to please.
I listened to Lily’s song Smile on repeat after DDay. She’s awesome. I hope shell feel the weight lift being free of a FW.
As the late, great Robin Williams said, “Open marriage is nature’s way of telling you that you need a divorce.”
I love this! And I’d agree based on people I’ve known who’ve in these open marriages.
Per an interview: In the song Tennis Allen describes spotting a message ping on her husband’s phone from another woman, called Madeline. Who is she? “A fictional character.” Is she a construct of others? “Yes.”
It appears that Medline is a composite of multiple women, and multiple women have come forward claiming to be Madeline.
How low do you have to go to want credit and fame for being the other woman?
Yeah, I’m watching the John Gacey tapes on Netflix. He killed about 30 boys. He enjoyed torturing them. It wasn’t just about sex with men. No empathy, said at one point these boys were objects to him. I see a lot of parallels to cheaters and this monster. It’s evil. They get off on the lying and deceit. It’s not just about sex and relationships. There is something fundamentally wrong with cheaters. Most psychopaths don’t commit crimes.
Scitechsaily.com
Scientists Discover a Key Biological Difference Between Psychopaths and Normal PeopleBY NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITYOCTOBER 27, 2025
Sorry. Scitechdaily.com
She was an admitted cheater in a previous relationship, so, I don’t know…what goes around comes around?
Perhaps I am a prude or something I don’t know. But I’ve known people who were in “open relationships.” I don’t know of any that lasted. Most of them seemed to be a ruse for one of the partners to be able to carry on with someone else they became attracted to. Hence the relationships broke up because of the cheating.
And the cheating one wound up with the person they cheated with.
That’s quite the reaction from somebody who admitted to repeatedly cheating on her ex, Sam Cooper, and with prostitutes at that. She whined about how she had to do it because she felt “lost and lonely.” She was also the OW, joining the Mile High Club with Liam Gallagher and then agreeing to lie to his wife after she’d heard a rumor about it.
This is just the rage of an incredibly entitled FW who has finally got her comeuppance. No sympathy whatsoever.