Lily Allen's ex David Harbour breaks silence on bitter breakup album by pop star
Stranger Things actor David Harbour has broken his silence after his ex Lily Allen released a scathing breakup album after their separation.
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Harbour, 51, has not spoken about the fiery 2025 album West End Girl, which was released after the breakdown of his five-year marriage to Allen, 41.
Speaking about the record with Variety, Harbour said: “It was weird.”
“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,” he added.
“I can’t really say that much more 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.”
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When asked about specific claims made by the album, Harbour said: “Stories are complex and that’s why I say I respect her creation of art to channel her experience. It wasn’t my experience.”
Allen described West End Girl as “a mixture of fact and fiction which I hope serves as a reminder of how stoic yet also how frail we humans can be.”
Harbour and Allen married in 2019 after meeting on the celebrity dating app Raya.
Following their split, Allen entered a treatment facility, telling an interview: “The feelings of despair that I was experiencing were so strong."
She said she believes she came close to ending her six years of sobriety due to the breakdown of her marriage.
“I’ve been into those places before against my will, and I feel like that’s progress in itself,” Allen continued. “That’s strength. I knew that the things I was feeling were too extreme to be able to manage, and I was like, ‘I need some time away.’”
In his interview, Harbour also admitted to mental health sturggles.
He told Variety: “I do suffer from some confusing stuff — it’s confusing as hell,” he told the outlet. “I think a lot of people have a friend or a brother or a co-worker that deals with mental health stuff, and they’re probably pretty confused when that person gets depressed or gets manic or has an episode.”
He continued: “Under times of extreme stress, that can cause somewhat erratic behavior, and it’s embarrassing, and I’m ashamed of it. It’s not something I choose, and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”
He suggested that the issues were to blame for his missing promotional events for the final season of Netflix show Stranger Things, on which he played Jim Hopper.