A toe-curling interview with Lily Allen and her ex David Harbour has hinted that tensions in their marriage were rife months before their split was revealed.
The couple split in December after it emerged that David had a three-year affair with a costume designer, with singer Lily laying bare his infidelity in her scathing new album West End Girl.
And as Lily brutally detailed how her marriage to David unravelled, an 2022 chat with the pair appeared to show all was not well between them.
In the titular song on her album, Lily detailed how she was offered a lead in a play, but after learning she’d landed the part, her fictional partner’s mood began to ‘change’.
This of course echoes Lily’s appearance in the West End play 2:22 A Ghost Story, and at the time David sent the star a note which appeared to poke fun at her big role.
Fans have since uncovered the 2021 message, and are now claiming its ‘sinister’ tone matches the lyrics of Lily’s song, claiming that David was clearly jealous of his then-wife’s West End success.Â
A toe-curling interview with Lily Allen and her ex David Harbour has hinted that tensions in their marriage were rife months before their split was revealed
David and Lily were interviewed on the red carpet at the 2022 Olivier Awards, but their curt exchange has shed light on their marriage in the wake of her stage role.
The interview was reposted by a fan of the star on X, following the release of her album on Friday.
‘It’s the first time I’ve been here…’ Lily began as before David chimed in, thinking the question was for him.
Instead, he looked on as Lily continued: ‘… because it’s not my usual industry or crowd. Â
‘But I’m just really, really honoured and happy and humble to be here and to be nominated is just, like, beyond. I don’t know what’s happening, really, but I couldn’t be happier.’
When David was then asked if it was his first time at the awards, he replied: ‘This is. I’ve done about a hundred thousand plays, never been recognised.’
Speaking to his wife through gritted teeth, he added: ‘Congratulations.’
Fans have also noted how David’s message that he sent to Lily following her West End debut similarly showed how he wasn’t so supportive of her stage roles.
The couple split in December after it emerged that David had a three-year affair with a costume designer, with singer Lily laying bare his infidelity in her scathing new album West End Girl
Fans have also uncovered a 2021 note which David sent to Lily poking fun at her West End debut in 2:22 A Ghost Story, with fans noting the ‘sinister’ undertones
Fans also noted that the tone of the note matches the lyrics of Lily’s song West End Girl, where she sings how her titular ex was jealous of her stage success
The Fear hitmaker shared a snap at the time of a bouquet of flowers she received from her husband.
The note read: ‘My ambitious wife. These are bad luck flowers ’cause if you get reviewed well in this play you will get all kids of awards and I will be miserable, your loving husband.’Â
The fan who posted the message on X wrote: ”This note is so sinister in hindsight after listening to West End Girl.’
‘David Harbour could not stand that is wife might find success as an actress. He must have crashed out when she was nominated for an Olivier Award.’
Other comments included: ‘Not even in hindsight. This note is even awful at the first reading. It’s so much screaming red flag. Poor girl.’
‘My ‘ambitious’ wife feels so backhanded;
‘Yes it is sarcasm but when you know now how annoyed he was about her getting the part, it doesn’t look so funny anymore.’
In her new song West End Girl, Lily detailed how her fictional partner brought a brownstone in New York shortly after she landed a stage role.
She sand about how she had to move back to London to start production, and it was then that her partner’s mood began to shift.
David and Lily were interviewed on the red carpet at the 2022 Olivier Awards, and their curt exchange has shed light on their marriage in the wake of her stage role
‘That’s when your demeanour started to change,’ she sang. ‘You said that I’d have to audition, I said ‘You’re deranged.’
Ahead of the 2:22 A Ghost Story premiere in August 2021, David also shared a snap of his wife while again poking fun at her acting career, as he joked he was going to start ‘working on a pop album.’
He wrote: ‘Very proud of my slightly nervous, immensely brave, annoyingly talented wife @lilyallen who has her first preview of her play @222aghoststory tonight. Like, that she’s acting in!Â
‘If you’re in London check it out at the Noel Coward til October something. Also, very excited to announce I’ve been working on a pop album. Get ready, cause it’s gonna suck!’
The record comes after a turbulent time in Lily’s life following the breakdown of her marriage last December after she accused David of having multiple affairs including a his three-year affair with a younger costume designer.
The Mail on Sunday has exclusively revealed the identity of ‘Madeline’ and spoke to her from her home in the US.
Lily’s fans have said the song is a modern-day equivalent of Beyonce’s ‘Becky with the good hair,’ which featured on a song called Sorry, a cheating diss track from her 2016 album Lemonade.Â
Meanwhile Dolly Parton’s 1973 hit Jolene sees the country star sing: ‘Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Jolene/ I’m begging of you, please don’t take my man’.
Lily’s new record, West End Girl, has drawn attention for her explicit and brutally honest lyrics about the breakdown of her four-year marriage to David, which ended last December after she accused the actor of having multiple affairs.
The lyrics see Lily appearing to suggest the couple had an open arrangement in regards to sex, as long as it was discrete, with paid strangers and not based on emotional connection.
She 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.
The chorus reads: ‘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.’
Speaking to The Times, Lily seemingly confirmed that ‘agreed-upon boundaries were not adhered to’ in her relationship with David, while addressing how apps had made cheating easier.Â
She said: ‘There are usually agreed-upon boundaries in relationships. But whether those boundaries are adhered to or not is becoming a grey area all of a sudden.Â
‘Dating apps make people disposable and that leads to the idea that if you are not happy, there’s so much more to choose from — right in your pocket.
Lily famously uncovered David’s infidelity when she discovered his profile on celebrity dating app, Raya, and ‘joined the dots’.
The pop star joined the app herself, pretending to be ‘looking for women’ – and allegedly found that her now ex-husband had already set up a dating profile.
Speaking to the publication, she detailed how she believed dating apps were making people ‘disposable’ and changing conventional ideas about monogamy.
Her split from David led Lily to check into a £8,000-a-week trauma treatment centre to focus on her mental health.
And she admitted that she has used her music as a way to work through the dark feelings she was having and to ‘lay my truth on the table’.
