Lily's big moment of truth
The Independent|January 20, 2025
After splitting from her husband and spiralling, Lily Allen has checked herself into a clinic. Zoé Beaty looks at what led the actor and singer to crisis point and where she goes next
Lily's big moment of truth

In the video for her 2006 hit single "Smile", Lily Allen was getting her own back. She was 21, boldly British, and an antidote of sorts - a new personality cutting through the civilised sounds of the very early 2000s, when pop stars tended to be polished and girls were girls. Instead, our first glimpse of Allen was as a rude, regretful, and vengeful young woman; sweet and sour, singing for her own self-worth. "I couldn't stop laughing/ No, I just couldn’t help myself,” she sang about an imaginary ex she’d paid thugs to beat up when he broke her heart. “You ruined my mental health/ I was quite unwell.”

Almost 20 years later, Allen is still trying to work through her own troubled relationships and mental health. On her hit BBC podcast Miss Me?, which she presents twice weekly with her close childhood friend Miquita Oliver, Allen, 39, who has previously been diagnosed with ADHD, PTSD and bipolar disorder, announced that she was taking a break. “I’m finding it hard to be interested in anything,” she told listeners. “I’m really not in a good place ... I’ve been spiralling and spiralling, and it’s got out of control.” Amid reports that Allen and her husband, Stranger Things star David Harbour, were divorcing, she had checked herself into an £8,000 per week “trauma clinic”.

The news was unexpected, and for her many admirers, very sad. Not so long ago, Allen’s life appeared to be perfect: she and Harbour went viral in early 2024 after inviting Architectural Digest into their colourful, immaculate, late-19th-century brownstone home in Brooklyn, New York, as part of the magazine’s series “Open Door”. She appeared, for once, to be calm and truly content.

This story is from the January 20, 2025 edition of The Independent.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the January 20, 2025 edition of The Independent.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE INDEPENDENTView All
‘T’m telling you it’s the universe looking out for me’
The Independent

‘T’m telling you it’s the universe looking out for me’

Michelle Monaghan talks to Adam White about her awkward and confronting’ role in The White Lotus’, acting as a way to pay off her college loans, and being on Tom Cruise’s cake list

time-read
8 mins  |
February 08, 2025
SWEET TURNED SOUR
The Independent

SWEET TURNED SOUR

‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ dramatises the story of Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who built her empire out of a non-existent brain tumour. Helen Coffey sorts reality from fantasy to dig into bizarre true events that inspired the show

time-read
8 mins  |
February 08, 2025
Super Bowl LIX could add to Mr Taylor Swift’s legacy
The Independent

Super Bowl LIX could add to Mr Taylor Swift’s legacy

Future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce now picks his moments and winning a fourth Super Bowl ring with the Kansas City Chiefs may well be yet another of them, writes Luke Baker

time-read
4 mins  |
February 08, 2025
Scores of countries back ICC after Trump sanctions
The Independent

Scores of countries back ICC after Trump sanctions

France, Germany and Britain are among the 79 signatories to line up behind vital pillar ru the international ania system’

time-read
3 mins  |
February 08, 2025
All aboard! Oh, you’re too late... King’s Cross to trial contentious plan for screens
The Independent

All aboard! Oh, you’re too late... King’s Cross to trial contentious plan for screens

Trains to vanish from info boards minutes before departures

time-read
2 mins  |
February 08, 2025
Accusations that Starmer is an HR manager squatting in No 10 are bound to wound
The Independent

Accusations that Starmer is an HR manager squatting in No 10 are bound to wound

A fascinating new book, published next week, telling the inside story of Keir Starmer’s leadership, paints an unflattering portrait of the prime minister.

time-read
3 mins  |
February 08, 2025
Father has lost hope’ after hospital transfer denied during indefinite jail term
The Independent

Father has lost hope’ after hospital transfer denied during indefinite jail term

Man on now-abolished sentence has developed health issues

time-read
3 mins  |
February 08, 2025
Children of the revolution
The Independent

Children of the revolution

David Constantine looks back on what he considers to be both his and the citizen’s book for life, Rights of Man’ by Thomas Paine as much now as when published in 1791

time-read
2 mins  |
February 08, 2025
City chiefs must speak out about maintaining diversity
The Independent

City chiefs must speak out about maintaining diversity

It has been disclosed that the late Sir Evelyn de Rothschild left his family bank after an investigation into an allegation of sexual misconduct.

time-read
4 mins  |
February 08, 2025
‘And the nomination for Best Actor doesn’t go to...’
The Independent

‘And the nomination for Best Actor doesn’t go to...’

For whatever reason, some stars get snubbed by the Academy voters time and time again. Greg Evans ranks those whose pristine body of work never got the Oscar love it deserved

time-read
8 mins  |
February 08, 2025