Lily Allen Reacts to Ex David Harbour’s ‘Generous’ Comments on Her ‘West End Girl’ Album

Months after dropping a breakup record that set the internet ablaze, Lily Allen is finally addressing how her ex took it. The singer opened up about his reaction in a new cover interview.

Lily Allen has responded to ex-husband David Harbour's comments about her scathing "West End Girl" album, which she released following their split. The 2025 record candidly explored betrayal and the breakdown of a marriage.

Allen shared her thoughts during a new cover interview for The Cut, published Monday, September 14.

Of the album, which debuted roughly eight months after the pair split in February 2025, Harbour, 51, said it "wasn't [his] experience" but that he had "respect" for his ex-wife telling her truth through her art.

"I think that was a generous thing for him to say," Allen told The Cut.

"He's having a real moment of success as well, right? He's been nominated for an Emmy, and it's great. We're all doing our own thing, and we're all doing what we're supposed to do. If there's one thing I know about David Harbour, it's that he's an excellent actor."

Allen's remarks arrive about three months after Harbour first reacted to "West End Girl" in a cover story for Variety. Allen has maintained that the album leans on "artistic license," noting in a separate interview, "I don't think I could say it's all true."

Even so, the lyrics — which touch on extramarital activity, violations of an agreed-upon arrangement, and emotional manipulation — sent the internet into a frenzy.

Her narrative centers on an unnamed husband who, resentful of her newfound success in acting and restless within the confines of marriage, belittled her and kept a separate apartment for encounters that went well beyond the no-strings-attached arrangement she'd permitted.

Arguably the gentlest track on the album is the closer, where Allen appears to reckon with her own part in the marriage's collapse — though even this comparatively balanced song ends with the lines, "It's not me, it's you / And there was nothing I could do."

"It was weird," Harbour said in his first public comments on the record. "I do believe that it is the privilege of every artist to use their experience to create art, and so I respect her for doing that." Still, he declined to elaborate further.

"I can't really say that much more," he said, "because it's my private life. In spite of the fact that a lot of people don't allow me a private life — I value it. And I also value the lives of the people that I interact with privately. I just won't speak about that."

"Stories are complex," he added, "and that's why I say I respect her creation of art to channel her experience. It wasn't my experience."

Harbour and Allen separated in February 2025 and finalized their divorce that same month, five years after tying the knot in a Las Vegas wedding in 2020.

Speaking with The Cut, Allen admitted that while she isn't especially vocal when promoting her work, she's much more forthcoming through her songwriting. "If I feel really strongly about something, then great, because I will use it for my art and I will write about it," she said.

She also confirmed she's since moved on romantically, though she intends to keep the relationship out of the spotlight. "'Yes, I have a boyfriend' is about as far as I'm willing to go. I am actively trying to protect this relationship," she shared.