A lawyer has finally answered the question I think a lot of us have been thinking: Could David Harbour sue Lily Allen for the comments she made in her new album? Last week, she dropped West End Girl, which was packed full of allegations about her former marriage with David Harbour.
It mentions their open relationship, and accused David of breaking these rules with a woman called Madeline – who was later unmasked as costume designer, Natalie Tippett. David is yet to respond to any of the bombshell claims made about him, and alleged affairs he had, which begs the question: Where does he stand legally?
Whilst David Harbour isn’t explicitly named in the songs, the implications are all there. And it doesn’t make him out well. Louise Lambert, co-CEO of Reviewed and Cleared, spoke to Cosmo to share all about what could go down in the eyes of the law.
via Startraks Photo/Shutterstock
She explained it is very much is defamatory to call someone a cheater, even though those words were not explicitly used. However, Lily would have a strong defence. By law, she’s allowed to say whatever she wants to so long as it’s true. If she can prove there’s truth in everything she’s claimed, “truth is a complete defence to defamation”.
Louise further explained: “In the event of a claim, the person making the allegation would need to provide evidence of cheating in order to rely on this defence.” There would also be a complete breakdown of what the lyrics *literally* say, against the fact Harbour isn’t named.
As well as the obvious defamation, Louise explained there’s also a potential claim for a breach of privacy. Lily sang about finding text messages between the man in question and “Madeline”. Lily also said: “Am I looking at a sex addict?”. To this, Louise replied: “Has the person concerned spoken about sex addiction themselves? And what is the public interest in exposing it?”. She did note that “phrasing something as a question can help, because it’s not an outright statement.”
So basically, a claim could definitely be raised for both defamation and a breach of privacy. It would just be really messy to conclude.
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