As Lily Allen’s divorce album soars, a real woman steps out of the shadows.
The drama fuelling Lily Allen’s acclaimed new album, West End Girl, has escalated from lyrical confession to real-world claim.
A woman named Natalie Tippett has come forward, identifying herself as the real-life inspiration behind the track ‘Madeline,’ a song where Allen confronts her lover’s other woman.
Tippett alleges she had a relationship with actor David Harbour during his marriage to Allen, a split that sent the singer into “emotional turmoil” and became a central theme of her first LP in seven years.
In the song, Allen pointedly asks, “Is it just sex or is there emotion?” While Tippett acknowledges hearing the track, she expresses fear for her privacy and young family.
Allen, however, has publicly insisted “Madeline” is a fictional “construct,” leaving the truth suspended in a haunting melody of he-said, she-sung.
