Lily Allen Sparks War of Words With 'Bitter Old Troll' Columnist

Lily Allen has gone back on a promise to cut down on her Twitter usage by replying savagely to an attack by Julie Burchill, a former NME writer. Now the pair are involved in a war of words, which is probably the 84th such go-round for Allen (we've lost count).

Burchill started the tiff in a Sun article about Cheryl Cole, in which she wrote "I adore the way she spat back at that over-privileged cry-baby Lily Allen when the public-school tool took a poke at her way back in the day." She's referring to a 2007 incident when Cole called Allen a "chick with a d---," after Allen criticized her looks.

That brings us to Monday, May 30, when Allen took to Twitter to write "Julie Birchill, you are an ignorant and bitter old troll, but I guess you know that already."

After Allen's Twitter rant, Burchill told the Evening Standard, "For someone who doesn't want to be famous anymore, she spends a lot of time reading about herself and tweeting."

She also defended herself, saying, "It was partly over Cole, but partly because Allen had said some ignorant s--- about the working class and I wrote what a nerve she had as a public-school mockney. Ooh, I do love a scrap."

Clearly, her young opponent does too, tweeting, "The amateur psychiatrist in me says [Burchill] sees a lot of her younger self in me, and she's a bit of a 'self-loather.'"

The former punk music hack retorted with, "No, Lily, dear. I Love me. I Loathe you! ... Clown!"

Watch the Video for Lily Allen's 'Smile'

Follow @Spinner on Twitter | Like Spinner on Facebook