Entertainment

Lily Allen claims media criticism motivated by ‘misogyny’

The singer has also spoken of her early approach to feminism.
The singer has also spoken of her early approach to feminism. The singer has also spoken of her early approach to feminism.

Lily Allen has blamed being characterised for drinking and drug-taking on “misogyny”.

The singer said negative coverage of her personal life stemmed from a hatred of women.

She also said that socialising with her actor father Keith Allen and his friends and listening to their views on women made her want to escape the “humiliation” of being female.

Speaking of the media coverage following her rise to fame, she said: “I was 21 or 22 so I internalised it all.

“I was like ‘there’s something wrong with me’. Alcohol, drugs and whatever it was.

“I realised this is just misogyny.

“I know what that was about now, and I can give myself a break, I can let it go.”

Allen said her father and the company he kept raised issues for her about her own femininity.

Speaking at a Women Of The World event in London, she said: “I’ve always been a feminist, so to speak.  But I have real daddy issues, and I used to hang out with my dad and his friends a lot. The way that they talked about women was quite derogatory.

“I wasn’t a girl’s girl because I was trying to avoid the humiliation of being a woman.

“I don’t want to be perceived the way they clearly perceived women. All my friends were boys.”

Allen said the arrival of her two daughters gave her an added sense of responsibility to examine the place of women in the world.