Lily Rose Beatrice Allen[4] (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer, songwriter, and actress. Her musical career began in 2005 when she was signed toRegal Recordings and began publishing her vocal recordings on the social networking siteMyspace. Their popularity resulted in airplay onBBC Radio 1. Her 2006 debut commercial single, "Smile", reached number one on theUK Singles Chart by July of that year and receiveddouble Platinum certification by theBritish Phonographic Industry (BPI).[5] Allen's debut studio album,Alright, Still (2006), was met with positive critical reception, peaked at number two on theUK Albums Chart, and sold over 2.6 million copies worldwide. The album also yielded aGrammy Award nomination forBest Alternative Music Album and spawned the follow up singles "LDN" and "Alfie".
Her second studio album,It's Not Me, It's You (2009), debuted atop the UK Albums Chart and theAustralian ARIA Charts, and spawned the singles "The Fear", "Not Fair" and "Fuck You". This success saw her receive theBrit Award for British Female Solo Artist at the2010 Brit Awards. Allen andAmy Winehouse were credited with starting a process that led to the "year of the women" media label in 2009 that saw five female artists making music of "experimentalism and fearlessness" nominated for theMercury Prize.[6] Her third album,Sheezus (2014), peaked atop the UK Albums Chart once more, while her fourth album,No Shame (2018) peaked at number eight.
Allen was born on 2 May 1985[9] inHammersmith, west London, toKeith Allen, a Welsh-born actor, and British film producerAlison Owen.[10] She has an elder sister, Sarah; a younger brother, actorAlfie (subject of her song "Alfie"); and a younger sister, Rebecca.[11] Alison Owen was from a devoutly Catholic working-classPortsmouth family, and was 17 when she gave birth to Sarah.[12] Allen is the goddaughter of directorDaniel Kleinman andWild Colonials vocalistAngela McCluskey[11] and a third cousin of singerSam Smith.[13]
Allen attended 13 schools, including King Charles III's junior alma materHill House School andBedales School,[15] and was expelled from several of them for drinking and smoking.[17][19][20] When Allen was eleven, formerUniversity of Victoria music studentRachel Santesso overheard her singing "Wonderwall" byOasis in the school's playground; impressed, Santesso, who later became an award-winningsoprano and composer, called Allen into her office the next day and started giving her lunchtime singing lessons. This led to Allen singing "Baby Mine" from Disney'sDumbo at a school concert.[21]
Allen toldLoveline that the audience was "brought to tears at the sight of a troubled young girl doing something good". At that point Allen said she knew that music was something she needed to do either as a lifelong vocation or to get it out of her system. She played the piano tograde 5 standard and achieved grade 8 in singing. Allen also played violin, guitar and trumpet, and was a member of a chamber choir. Her first solo was "In the Bleak Midwinter".[18] In 1998, Allen appeared in the music video to theFat Les song "Vindaloo". She dropped out of school aged fifteen, not wanting to "spend a third of her life preparing to work for the next third of her life, to set herself up with a pension for the next third of her life."[22]
Music career
2001–2005: Career beginnings
When her family went toIbiza on holiday, Allen told her mother that she was staying with friends but remained inSant Antoni de Portmany instead. She earned money by working at a Plastic Fantastic record store and dealingecstasy at the age of 15.[22] Allen met her first manager,George Lamb, in Ibiza.[22] She first recorded the vocals for "On Me Head Not Off Me Head" written by her father forMike Bassett: England Manager in 2001,[23] and was featured in the 2002 song by her father's group Fat Les, "Who Invented Fish and Chips".[24] She started to work with music producers, and recorded a demo.[25] She was rejected by several labels, which she attributed to her drinking and being the daughter of Keith Allen. She eventually used her father's connections to get signed toLondon Records in 2002.[26] When the executive who had signed her left, the label lost interest and she left without releasing thefolk songs[which?] many of which were written by her father.[18][26][25] She then studied horticulture to become a florist, but changed her mind and returned to music. Allen began writing songs, while her manager introduced her to production duo Future Cut in 2004. They worked in a small studio in the basement of an office building.[25]
In 2005, Allen was signed toRegal Recordings; they gave her £25,000 to produce an album, though they were unable to provide much support for it due to their preoccupation with other releases such asX&Y (Coldplay) andDemon Days (Gorillaz).[27] Allen then created an account on Myspace and began posting demos that she recorded in November 2005.[27] The demos attracted thousands of listeners, and 500 limited edition7-inch vinyl singles of "LDN" were rush-released, reselling for as much as £40.[22][27] Allen also produced two mixtapes –My First Mixtape andMy Second Mixtape – to promote her work. As she accumulated tens of thousands of Myspace friends,The Observer Music Monthly (OMM), a magazine published inThe Observer, took interest in March 2006.[22] Few people outside of her label'sA&R department knew who she was, so the label was slow in responding to publications wanting to report about her.[27] She received her first major mainstream coverage, appearing in the magazine's cover story two months later.
2006–2008:Alright, Still
Allen in 2007
The success convinced her label to allow her more creative control over the album and to use some of the songs that she had written instead of working with mainstream producers. Allen decided to work with producersGreg Kurstin andMark Ronson, finishing the rest of the album in two weeks.[27] Allen's debut album,Alright, Still, was released in July 2006. Most of the tracks had been previewed on her Myspace page, including the singles "Smile", "LDN", "Knock 'Em Out", and "Alfie". In September 2006, "Smile" was made available on the US version ofiTunes Store. By December 2006, her music video forSmile had been played on various music channels as well as the song getting a little airplay.Entertainment Weekly namedAlright, Still as one of the top 10 albums of 2006 despite the fact that it had not yet been released in the US. Allen also did several promotional ads for MTV as theirDiscover and Download artist of the month for January 2007. The album was released in the US on 30 January 2007, landing at 20 on theBillboard 200.[28] By January 2009, the album had sold 960,000 copies in the UK and 520,000 copies in the US.[29]
In 2007, she played the newly launched Park Stage at theGlastonbury Festival, replacingMIA who had cancelled.[30] During the festival she reunited two members ofThe Specials, an act that guitaristLynval Golding claimed played a "massive part" in the group's 2009 reunion.[31] She also sang the vocals on the top ten single, "Oh My God", a cover of theKaiser Chiefs song byMark Ronson. On 1 July 2007, Allen appeared at theConcert for Diana held atWembley Stadium, London, to celebrate the life ofPrincess Diana. She sang "LDN" and "Smile".[32][33] Allen's single "Littlest Things" from her album produced by Ronson helped earn him a "Producer of the Year – Non Classical"2008 Grammy Award.[34] She also provided background vocals for a couple of songs on the Kaiser Chiefs' third album in 2008. Allen won a 2008 BMI songwriting award for "Smile".[35]
Allen later performed at a benefit concert forWar Child, an international child protection agency that works with children affected by war. Backed byKeane, Allen sang "Smile" and "Everybody's Changing".[36]
2008–2011:It's Not Me, It's You and musical hiatus
After the release of her first album, her parent record company,EMI, was taken over byTerra Firma.[37] She also changed her management company from Empire Artist Management to Twenty-First Artists, although her core team remained in place. At the urging of her record company, Allen tried unsuccessfully to create the album with several writers and producers. Allen eventually returned toGreg Kurstin who had written three songs forAlright, Still.[18] The album was produced by Kurstin at Eagle Rock Studios in Los Angeles.[38] Before returning to Kus, Allen co-wrote the songs for the album with Kurstin who played piano on it. This is a change from her earlier work in which she wrote lyrics for finished tracks.[39] Allen released a statement saying "We decided to try and make bigger sounding, more ethereal songs, real songs ... I wanted to work with one person from start to finish to make it one body of work. I wanted it to feel like it had some sort of integrity. I think I've grown up a bit as a person and I hope it reflects that."[38] She posted two new song demos on her Myspace page and planned to release amixtape to give her fans an idea of what the new direction was.[40][41][42][43][44]
Allen cancelled a scheduled appearance at the 2008Isle of Wight Festival, telling festival promoter John Giddings the reason for the cancellation was that her album was behind schedule. Giddings said that the reason given was not acceptable and possibly a lie. Giddings decided not to sue her.[45] Photos of her drunk and topless in theCannes Film Festival were also widely covered in the press.[46] Her appearance at the 2008Glamour Awards also generated criticism, as she showed up intoxicated wearing a dress covered in decapitatedBambi figures, and had an on-stage, expletive-laced exchange withElton John.[47][48][49] On 29 June 2008, Allen performed at theGlastonbury Festival alongside producer Mark Ronson. An emotional Allen dedicated her performance of "Littlest Things" to her grandmother who died the night before.[50]It's Not Me, It's You was first scheduled for an early 2008 release, but her miscarriage and creative issues delayed the release date to the autumn. During autumn 2008, EMI was undergoing restructuring. Due to this environment, a decision was made to move the album's eventual release date.[29][51] An online game,Escape the Fear, was created by Matmi as part of theviral marketing campaign targeted at people unaware of Allen or the album.[52] Since its release, "The Game" has topped the worldwide viral charts three times, including the week of Christmas—a highly contested time of the year. By 18 February 2009, "The Game" had been played over two million times.[53] The singer andthe Clash guitaristMick Jones performed the Clash's song "Straight to Hell" on an album for the charityHeroes.[54]
It's Not Me, It's You was released in February 2009. It debuted at the number 1 position in the UK, Canada, and Australia and the number 5 position in the United States.[38][55][56][57][58] The album has been certified platinum in the United Kingdom.[59] The release of the album was a factor inEMI more than trebling their earnings.[60] The first single from the album, "The Fear", was number 1 for the first four weeks in the UK after its release.[61][62] The second single released from the album, "Not Fair", reached the number 9 position.[63] She began herIt's Not Me, It's You World Tour in March, touring throughout the next two years until September 2010. Her work on this album withGreg Kurstin earned her theSongwriters of the Year at the 2010Ivor Novello Awards. In addition, she won with KurstinBest Song Musically and Lyrically andMost Performed Work for "The Fear". Allen appeared overwhelmed by this recognition from what she considered "real awards".[64] In October 2010, Allen won her second BMI Pop Song Award by the United States music licensing organisationBroadcast Music Incorporated for extensive United States radio airplay of her song, "The Fear".[65][66]
Allen and Jamie Hince, guitarist forThe Kills, raised £48,350 for the children's charity The Hoping Foundation. The pair sang "Dream a Little Dream of Me" at akaraoke auction fundraiser.[67]
In September 2009, Allen announced that she was considering a career in acting, that she would not renew her record contract, and that she had "no plans" to make another record.[68] In September 2010, she gave her last performance for two and a half years, supportingMuse atWembley Stadium inLondon, England.[69] She featured on the UK top five single, "Just Be Good to Green" byProfessor Green in June 2010. The following month, she started writing songs for themusical version ofBridget Jones's Diary which was scheduled to open in London'sWest End in 2012.[70] Also in 2011,T-Pain used a verse from Allen's "Who'd Have Known" as the chorus to the song "5 O'Clock", which became the second single from his albumRevolver. The song, which also featuresWiz Khalifa, was released in September 2011, and reached number ten on theBillboard Hot 100 chart,[71] making it Allen's first Top 10 single in the United States.
2012–2018:Sheezus andNo Shame
In June 2012, Allen confirmed she was in the studio working withGreg Kurstin on new music.[72][73][74] She later changed her professional name from Lily Allen to Lily Rose Cooper[75] and appeared on the track "True Love" onPink's sixth studio album,The Truth About Love, released in September 2012. In February 2013, she performed live at a Paris fashion show produced byMark Ronson in what she called her "mumback", and foreshadowed the release of a new album "inspired by her experiences of motherhood" by the end of 2013.[76] In August 2013, she changed her professional name back to Lily Allen and tweeted new music would be arriving "soon".[77]
In November 2013, Allen recorded a cover ofKeane's "Somewhere Only We Know" for theJohn Lewis Christmas advert with a portion of the song's sales earnings donated toSave the Children's Philippine Typhoon Appeal campaign.[78] Released as a download single, it reached number one in the UK singles chart on 24 November. On 12 November 2013, Allen premiered the video for her new song "Hard Out Here" on her official website.[79] The song was released as a download the following week and entered the UK singles chart at number nine, giving Allen two simultaneous top ten hit singles. Allen's November 2013 video for "Hard out Here" was accused of being racist for its use of mostly black dancers in an allegedly "disapproving" manner. Allen responded that ethnicity was not a factor in hiring the dancers, and the video was a lighthearted satirical look at objectification of women in modern pop music.[80][81] In November 2016, Allen apologised for the video in an interview withAnnie Mac, stating "I definitely wanted to make a feminist statement. But I was guilty of assuming that there was a one-size-fits-all where feminism is concerned."[82] In December 2013, Allen was announced as one of the newest signees atWarner Bros. Records due toWarner Music Group acquiringParlophone fromUniversal Music Group in May 2013. On 13 January 2014, the song "Air Balloon" was premiered on BBC Radio 1 and was released on 2 March 2014, as the second single from Allen's third studio albumSheezus.[83][84] The album was released on 5 May 2014.[85] Allen performed at theGlastonbury Festival 2014.[86]
Allen performing in March 2018
Following the release ofSheezus (2014), Allen had an "identity crisis". She did not enjoy the music she was being asked to create and believed people within the music industry were controlling her musical choices.[87][88] Allen mentioned on the podcastNews Roast that she is working on a new album, which will mainly deal with herself, her relationship with her children, the breakdown of her marriage, substance abuse, etc. Allen has been working withMark Ronson.[89] In late 2017, Allen uploaded numerous songs online in preparation for the album, including the track titled "Family Man".[90] When conceiving the album Allen wanted to work through her problems via music. Allen decided to do this because she felt that people are often led "by outside forces" when they are trying to express themselves – something she wanted to explore when creatingNo Shame.[91]
Later that year, in December, a song called "Trigger Bang" was leaked and featured rapperGiggs.[92] On 24 January 2018 Allen announced her new album would be calledNo Shame.[93] The album was released 8 June 2018.[94]No Shame was nominated for a Mercury Prize, with the album being one of 12 to be shortlisted for the award.[95] Anelectropop album,No Shame takes influence fromdancehall andreggae, and features confessional lyrics that discuss the breakdown of Allen's marriage and friendships, maternal guilt,substance abuse, along with social and political issues. Upon releaseNo Shame was met with generally positive reviews from music critics, who praised the album's mature lyrical content and themes, Allen's artistic evolution, the composition and production. The album peaked at number eight on theUK Albums Chart, it reached the top 40 on the New Zealand and Irish charts and became Allen's fourth consecutive top 10 album in Australia. To promote the album, Allen embarked on her worldwideNo Shame Tour.
2019–present: Concept album and second hiatus
In April 2019, Allen revealed onBeats 1 radio that she was working on her next record which would be aconcept album.[96] Allen later said in March 2020 that her new album only features "odd mentions" of her past addictions. She said: "This album I've been doing, I've been writing for just over a year, but I feel like I've moved on mentally so far from that time."[97]
In late 2022, Allen booked five weeks in a music studio, but she said it felt "contrived" and that the music was not ready to be released.[103] In 2024 she said she had recorded around 50 songs for her next music project, which she was still working on.[104]
Allen's early released songs saw her singing against retro productions.[29] Her songs also featured other elements, such as the ska influence on second single, "LDN". She was also noted for her liberal use of crude words in her lyrics.[105] Allen has said she cringes now when listening to tracks fromAlright, Still, as it reminds her that she was a "sort of over-excitable teenager who desperately wanted attention" when she wrote it.[18] Wanting to move on from the retro sound that many other artists had adapted since her debut, Allen ventured in a new direction sonically and lyrically in her second studio album,It's Not Me, It's You. "The Fear", the first single from the album, is an electro-pop track denouncing consumerism.[106][107][108] Her new musical direction and willingness to write lyrics that tackled less-common subjects were lauded by some critics.[58][109]
Allen signed a one-series contract to present her own BBC Three TV show titledLily Allen and Friends based on the social networking phenomenon that helped to launch her music career.[134][135][136] Guests included Mark Ronson,Joanna Page, James Corden,Lauren Laverne,Róisín Murphy,Louis Walsh, andDanny Dyer.[137] The show attracted only 2 per cent of the total multi-channel audience despite a high-profile nationwide marketing campaign.[138] Citing Allen's rapid development as a TV host and her popularity among itstarget audience BBC Three announced it was renewingLily Allen and Friends for a second season.[139] BBC Three controllerDanny Cohen later said that the show would not air in the spring of 2009 as originally scheduled because of music commitments.[140]
In 2009, Allen was named the face of theNational Portrait Gallery as part of the gallery's marketing campaign.[141] The picture was photographed byNadav Kander emblazoned with the words, "vocalist, lyricist, florist".[142]Karl Lagerfeld, the head designer forChanel, personally hired and photographed Allen for a campaign to promote a luxury line of handbags due to launch in September 2009.[143][144] Allen and her sister opened their own clothing store, titled "Lucy in Disguise", on 15 September 2010. Allen did not entirely abandon music during this period, in which she focused on starting her family. In January 2011, she launched her own record label,In the Name Of, with financial backing fromSony Music. The label released the debut album ofTom Odell, but closed in 2014.[145] In May 2016, Allen announced the launch of her second record label, Bank Holiday Records. British-American R&B singerCeleste was one of the first artists to sign to the label.[146]
On 20 September 2018, Allen published the memoirMy Thoughts Exactly withBlink Publishing. It was nominated for the FutureBook Campaign of the Year.[147] The book is one of seven chosen by theEvening Standard as the "best celebrity memoirs of 2018".[148] It is one of nine books listed under the "Showbusiness" category ofThe Guardian's best books of 2018.[149]
In October 2020, Allen worked with the sex tech company Womanizer to create her ownsex toy called "Liberty", aclitoral pump.[150] She is the chief liberation officer at Womanizer and is heading up their #IMasturbate campaign which encourages women to embrace their own sexuality.[151] Liberty was positively reviewed inThe Independent andMashable.[152][153] The product sucks and massages the clitoris without making direct contact, using sonic waves to induce sexual pleasure.[152] It is waterproof and has six different intensity levels.[154] Allen had previously recommended Womanizer's products in her autobiographyMy Thoughts Exactly.[155][156]
In 2024, Allen began hosting a twice-weeklyBBC Sounds podcast,Miss Me?, with her lifelong friendMiquita Oliver.[157] In the same year she opened anOnlyFans account to sell pictures and videos of her feet.[158] Allen has stated that as of 2024, she earns more from OnlyFans subscriptions than viaSpotify.[159]
Allen began dating musician Ed Simons of theChemical Brothers in September 2007, and in December, Allen announced that she and Simons were expecting a child.[162] Allen announced that she suffered amiscarriage in January 2008.[163] However, in her 2018 memoirMy Thoughts Exactly, Allen writes that she had had an abortion, but "fake[d]" the miscarriage due to fears over how tabloids would report the story.[164] After five months of dating, Allen's relationship with Simons ended. Allen has stated that she spent three weeks in apsychiatric clinic due to depression.[165]
In July 2009, Allen began dating Sam Cooper, a builder and decorator.[166] On 5 August 2010, Allen announced that she was pregnant with her and Cooper's first child,[167] later confirmed to be a boy,[168] due early in 2011.[169] She experienced complications early in the pregnancy, including "about a week and a half of really heavy bleeding".[170] In late October, six months into her pregnancy, Allen contracted aviral infection, which caused her to suffer astillbirth, announced on 1 November.[171][172][173] On 6 November, Allen was admitted to a hospital, where she responded well to treatment forsepticaemia.[172][174] In February 2017, Allen explained that she was diagnosed withpost traumatic stress disorder after the stillbirth.[175]
Allen and Cooper became engaged in December 2010 while on holiday inBali.[176] They wed on 11 June 2011 at St. James Church inCranham, Gloucestershire, England. The designer of Allen's wedding dress confirmed she was several months pregnant on the wedding day.[177] Allen gave birth to her daughter, Ethel Mary, in 2011.[178][179] She gave birth to her second daughter, Marnie Rose, in 2013,[179][180] following which she experiencedpostnatal depression.[179][181][182]
On 2 September 2018, Allen posted onInstagram that she had had sex with female escorts in 2014 whilst married to Cooper, and whilst on tour promotingSheezus.[183][184] Allen had included details of these events in her bookMy Thoughts Exactly, and said that she made the Instagram post as theDaily Mail were planning to publish an article about it the following day.[185] Saying that "I'm not proud, but I'm not ashamed", Allen has linked the events to her postnatal depression and the breakdown of her marriage. Allen has criticised the press for portraying the events as a "lesbian prostitute sex romp".[185][186]
InMy Thoughts Exactly, Allen writes that she had an affair withLiam Gallagher when he was married toNicole Appleton. In mid-2015, Allen and Cooper broke up, after she told him about her acts of infidelity.[187] In June 2018, it was publicly announced that a "friendly divorce" from Cooper had been finalised and they would share custody of their children.[188]
Allen began a relationship with actorDavid Harbour in 2019. They made their red carpet debut during the 26th annualScreen Actors Guild Awards.[189] A day after they obtained their marriage certificate, they got married on 7 September 2020 inLas Vegas, in a wedding that was officiated by anElvis impersonator.[190] The couple share a home in Brooklyn.[191] Allen said in 2024 that she had prioritised her children over her career as a contrast to the relative absence of her parents.[192] In December 2024, newspapers alleged that Allen and Harbour had separated, after Allen's dating profile was reportedly spotted on the exclusive dating appRaya[193]—but these allegations have not yet been confirmed by the couple.[194]
Mental health
Allen has been outspoken regarding herbody image throughout her career. In an interview forLorraine, anITVbreakfast program, Allen mentions that she "used to sleep for days so that [she] didn't eat" and that her relationship with her body was "not great" in her 20s. When asked about being influenced by the pressure of themusic industry to "look a certain way in order to sell records", she replied that due to her defiant way of dealing with these unrealistic expectations, she was often criticized far more than the averagemusician.[195] In January 2021, Allen gave an interview to discuss how she became addicted to the prescription drugAdderall in 2014 to lose weight before supporting Miley Cyrus on herBangerz tour.[196] She began a journey of recovery soon after when she was tempted to tryheroin.[citation needed] In February 2017, Allen said that she had been diagnosed withbipolar disorder.[175] In 2023, she was diagnosed withattention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).[197]
Politics and activism
Allen considers herself asocialist.[198] Although she is a staunch supporter of theLabour Party,[199] she was credited with helping inspire a parliamentary rebellion against former Prime MinisterGordon Brown when she wrote to all members of parliament asking them to back an amendment to an energy bill, requiring a reward scheme for home production of renewable energy.[200] She later confirmed her support for the Labour Party and then-Prime Minister Gordon Brown in particular.[201]
After the British government's plans to implement athree-strikes policy forfile sharing copyright infringement, Allen came out in support for disconnecting repeat offenders.[202][203] Creating a blog titled "It's Not Alright" against file sharing, it subsequently came to light that she had copied text directly from theTechdirt website of an interview with50 Cent, without attribution.[204] This led to accusations that Allen had infringed on other artists' copyrights by creatingmix tapes early in her career, that she then made available via her website.[205][206] A group of supporters of filesharing, operating under the name "Anonymous", launched adenial of service attack dubbedOperation Payback that shut down Allen's website and targeted other critics.[207]
On 1 October 2009, Allen and several other musicians released the world's first digital musical petition aimed at pressuring world leaders attending the December 2009climate change summit in Copenhagen. The petition included a cover of the song "Beds Are Burning" byMidnight Oil.[208]
During the Londonassembly andmayoral elections in April 2016, Allen announced that she would be giving "half her vote to theWomen's Equality Party" – by voting for them on the London-wide Assembly list but voting Labour elsewhere.[209]
On 15 June 2017, Allen appeared onChannel 4 News to discuss theGrenfell Tower fire. She claimed that "the death count has been downplayed by the mainstream media", disputing the then official figure of 17 fatalities by saying, "I'm hearing from people that the figure is much closer to 150".[212] The official death toll is now 72.[213]
In November 2019, Allen declared during the2019 UK general election campaign that the Labour Party manifesto was "the best I've ever seen"[214] and shared a picture of her polling card with the caption: "Tories OUT."[215]
Stalking ordeal
Allen has spoken publicly about her seven-year stalking ordeal and the effect it had on her life. Her stalker, Alex Gray, first made contact with Allen in 2008 when he sent her a series oftweets, claiming he had written her song "The Fear", under theTwitter handle "@lilyallenisRIP". He then sent Allen threatening letters to her home, her clothes shop, her record label and her manager's office.[216] In October 2015, he sent an email to his mother stating he was planning on murdering a celebrity and went on to spend nights in Allen's back garden, broke into her bedroom whilst she was sleeping, and ultimately forced Allen to move. Allen has strongly criticised theMetropolitan Police for their inaction in the case, which included refusals to show Allen a picture of her stalker, lending her apanic alarm before demanding it back and refusal to believe stalking incidents were linked.[217][218] In April 2016, Gray was convicted of burglary and harassment. AtHarrow Crown Court on 10 June, Judge Martyn Barklem sentenced him to an indefinite hospital order. Gray was also made the subject of a restraining order and banned from entering theLondon Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham or theRoyal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea.[219][220]
Allen said that she isolated herself following the stalking incidents, believing that "nobody was taking me seriously because the police weren't taking me seriously". This coincided with her divorce, in which she says "everyone sided with [Cooper]", and her albumNo Shame became the outlet for her issues.[12]
Alleged assault and disparaging remarks
Due to her outspokenness, Allen was the subject of many controversies early in her career. Disparaging remarks about musicians such asLuke Pritchard ofThe Kooks,Bob Geldof,[221]Cheryl,Nicola Roberts,[222]Amy Winehouse,[223]Kylie Minogue[224] andKaty Perry[225] have all garnered minor press attention. She later said that making fun of other pop stars was a result of a lack of confidence, saying "I felt like 'Oh God, I'm short, fat, ugly and I hate all these people who flaunt their beauty.'"[226]
On 28 June 2007, Allen was arrested in London for allegedly assaulting photographer Kevin Rush while she was leaving a nightclub in London's West End. Prior to this, she had expressed discomfort with attention from the paparazzi on herMyspace blog.[227] By February 2009, she had stopped addressing controversies about herself on her blog because she found it "boring when people just pick stuff up and write about it. People get hurt, people get upset."[228]
In May 2009, French football magazineSo Foot published a fake interview in which Allen was quoted as making derogatory remarks aboutDavid andVictoria Beckham andAshley andCheryl Cole. Some of the material was reprinted in the British tabloidThe Sun. Both publications later apologised and paid damages to Allen.[229] In October 2009, after having created her career on Myspace, Allen deleted her social media accounts and announced "I am now a neo-luddite. Goodbye".[230] She re-activated her accounts four months later in February 2010.[231]
^DuPont, Jean-Pierre (28 September 2006)."Lily Allen: Alright, Still".Voir (in French).Archived from the original on 16 August 2017. Retrieved27 September 2016.entre la pop, le reggae et le R&B
^Sawyer, Miranda (20 May 2006). "Pictures of Lily".The Observer. Observer Music Monthly, p. 15. Posted atSawyer, Miranda (21 May 2006)."Pictures of lily".The Guardian. London. Retrieved23 June 2007.
^"If you expect all pop stars to be left wing, then you're deluded".The Independent. 2 December 2016.Archived from the original on 14 June 2022.Female singers who support the right are rare creatures – only Lulu has gone on record as an admirer of Maggie Thatcher whereas Lily Allen, Paloma Faith and Cheryl are right-on socialists
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