Lily Allen is no stranger to having her personal life scrutinised by the press. The former Stylist guest editor has talked before about the dark side of fame and the fixation on her relationships. But she has always been frank and funny when calling out the media.

So when the singer and her actor boyfriend David Harbour recently read headlines about their relationship, they decided to turn the story on its head by responding in the best way.

“Lily Allen looks downcast as she makes a rare appearance without Stranger Things boyfriend David Harbour in New York City,” read the Daily Mail headline earlier this week.

Apparently, Allen going for a walk by herself was enough to confirm the end of her relationship. And we all know that something must be really wrong if I woman doesn’t have a beaming smile on her face at all times, right?

Harbour decided to show how ridiculous the story was by sharing it on his own Instagram and poking fun at it. He captioned it: “Looks like SOMEONE had to take a walk around the block alone because she sucks at Mortal Kombat. #crybaby.”

Allen then commented: “RHUDE.”

She also shared a photo that was used in the story on her own Instagram page and wrote alongside it: “Me minding my own business, going to get some milk from the shop.”

We can confidently say that the couple have no time for the breakup rumours. 

This reaction reminded us of another couple who recently took a similar approach to calling out the press. The Good Place star Kristen Bell and her husband Dax Shepard worked together to take down a publication that reported their “marriage problems”.

Shepard took to Instagram with a screenshot of an email from Life & Style magazine. It requested a comment from him on an article they were about to write about his marriage.

Addressed to his publicist, it detailed: “Life & Style is preparing a story for publication on Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard. Sources tell Life & Style that Kristen and Dax have had problems in their marriage, including Dax’s addiction issues, but they’re very happy now and are determined to make their marriage work.”

Shepard captioned it: “DAMNIT! Who in the inner circled leaked?! I want names! My “addiction issues” are between me, my sponsor, and the 3-4 folks listening to me speak about it for 4 hours a week on my podcast!!! How dare you!!!

“Now if you will excuse me, I have a marriage to save…”

Then, Bell commented on the post by writing: “I’m sorry hun, it was me. I’ve found that my most dependable friends have always been the sources at Life & Style. They are always there to listen when I need to vent about your @peakyblindersofficial addiction.”

She added: “Honey I dare you to respond “by 5pm tomorrow” with an email of ALL [aubergine] emojis.”

Judging by Allen and Bell’s responses, it seems that having a good sense of humour is pretty helpful in these situations. But there must be a point when the joke just isn’t funny anymore.

Images: Getty