Lily Allen, 23, was photographed over the holidays in St. Barts with a new boyfriend, Jay Joplin, a prominent and very wealthy 45-year-old art dealer. But soon after the photos were taken, the couple broke up, as the relationship was just a “holiday fling” and Lily is going on tour soon with no time for a boyfriend. Now it seems that their “fling” has made Joplin’s ex-wife and children very angry. Joplin and his wife, Sam Taylor-Wood, separated in September of last year, and made an agreement that they wouldn’t see other people until the divorce proceedings were finalized. Joplin has very publicly ignored the agreement and his wife and daughters are not pleased.

One close friend said: ‘Sam has said that the situation at the moment is very, very hard. She and Jay want to do everything they can to protect their girls, but the truth is that the situation is getting very sticky and unpleasant.

‘Sam could not believe it when Jay started dating Lily Allen. She thought it was below the belt as they had agreed neither of them would start dating until the dust had settled. Sam was livid because it really upset Angelica.

‘She is at an age where she reads the papers and it was awful for her to have to go to school the next day.

‘Sam also felt very publicly humiliated. She had suspected that Jay was seeing people but she thought he would honour their agreement. Now she is having all sorts of doubts about how he behaved during their marriage.’

Those doubts have, perhaps inevitably, crystallised into a determination on Sam’s part not to walk away from the 11-year union without securing what portion of their wealth she believes she is entitled to.

[from Daily Mail]

Sam has now moved out of the family home and is reportedly determined to get what she deserves. She originally wanted to have a quiet, amicable divorce, but this has changed everything for her. Nothing like an affair to make a divorce turn sour. Especially when that affair affects your children.

It’s no wonder that Joplin’s daughter was embarrassed. Lily is a woman who flashed her third nipple, said that drugs aren’t that bad, and tried to start a feud with Katy Perry. At some point you have to feel bad for her. A year ago, she suffered a miscarriage that resulted in a breakup with the baby’s father, but couldn’t (or chose not to) stay out of the limelight. Soon after, she was seen out partying as usual. Now she’s had a very public affair with a still legally married man nearly twice her age; what makes it even creepier is that Joplin is a friend of Lily’s father.

Lily Allen and Joy Jopling are shown in St. Barts on 1/1/09. Jay Jopling, his wife Sam Taylor-Wood, and one of their daughters are shown on 4/28/08. Credit: Bauergriffinonline