The Alleged Mistress in the David Harbour/Lily Allen Breakup Gave Us an Instagram Story 

Who the fuck is Madeline? Her name is Natalie Tippett, and she has some thoughts about the “false narrative” presented in Lily Allen’s new album, West End Girl, which dropped in October. The identity of the alleged mistress at the center of Allen’s fifth studio album, which details the dissolution of her marriage to Stranger Things star David Harbour, has been the source of much fascination for weeks now. (Not the least of which because “Who’s Madeline?” is the refrain of one of the album’s catchiest tracks.) 

Those deep in West End Girl discourse will know that Tippett, 35, actually outed herself as Madeline in The Daily Mail not long after the album’s release, but she’s been relatively silent on the subject since then. But now, as Allen ramps up the press appearances ahead of her upcoming tour, Tippett is breaking her two-month silence. 

In a series of Instagram stories on Sunday—after Allen’s performance of “Madeline” on Saturday Night Live (featuring Dakota Johnson?!)—the mom of one pushed back on some of the rumors circulating about her relationship with Harbour. According to Tippett, who met Harbour in 2021 while working as the costume designer on the Netflix horror/comedy We Have a Ghost, the two did not have a “three-year” affair. Instead, it was a “marginal” part of her life that has now become a “major disruption.”

Tippett goes on to say that she feels “extremely violated” by the narrative put forth in the album, which includes dramatized readings of alleged texts between herself and Allen. The supposed texts featured in the song “Madeline” (the album is good, but it’s not subtle) are also “false,” according to Tippett, and were included in the album “without [her] consent.” Not sure you actually need someone’s consent to do a dramatic reading of their messages under a pseudonym, but I understand why the fallout has been annoying. 

Tippett ended her stories with a plea to viewers. “I am a single mother with my own struggles,” she wrote. “I’m aware of the repercussions speaking out on this may cause, but I can’t imagine anything worse than what’s already been said […] Please remember before you send more hate my way that I am a human being and not a character someone created.” 

As a West End Girl fan, this is tough. On the one hand, the villain of the story is Harbour, who very likely deceived both women while breaking his commitment to Allen. On the other hand, it’s hard not to read these stories in Lily Allen’s American-accented Madeline voice, or to see the similarities in how Natalie speaks here vs. the now infamous text messages. 

Love and light! 

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