Ashley Tisdale denies savage 'toxic mom group' admission is about Hilary Duff
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Parenting, Life
Madison Burgess
Featured Image Credit: Monica Schipper/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Topics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Parenting, Life
Ashley Tisdale's rep has firmly denied that her viral 'toxic mom group' essay was about Hilary Duff despite swirling internet rumours.
To start the New Year, the 40-year-old High School Musical actress recently penned an essay in The Cut about how she's leaving her toxic pals in 2025.
She explained how she was 'craving connection with other mothers' after the birth of her first daughter, Jupiter Iris French, who was born in March 2021.
Tisdale admitted she 'felt lucky' when her friend 'brought together a group of new moms that she knew', which blossomed into playdates and a parenting group chat - she was certain that she'd 'found her village'.
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However, things began to go downhill, and the actress started to feel left out and distanced from the group.
She recalled: "I remember being left out of a couple of group hangs, and I knew about them because Instagram made sure it fed me every single photo and Instagram Story.
"Another time, at one of the mom’s dinner parties, I realised where I sat with her, which was at the end of the table, far from the rest of the women. I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me."
She eventually realised this group 'had a pattern of leaving someone out,' adding: "And that someone had become me."
After being left out of another group hangout, she texted the chat: "This is too high school for me, and I don’t want to take part in it anymore."
The actress revealed that this 'didn’t exactly go over well' and one of the mums 'tried to smooth things over' by sending flowers, but then 'ignored her' when she thanked her for them.
She added: "Another tried to convince me that everyone assumed I’d been invited to gatherings and just hadn’t shown up."
As for why she was excluded, Tisdale said she didn't know and 'probably never will', but that it 'took me back to an unpleasant but familiar feeling I thought I’d left behind years ago' about being left out.
She went on to say that she doesn't consider any of the mums to be 'bad people', except for 'maybe one' that she doesn't name, but their group dynamic was no longer 'healthy and positive'.
Now, although The Suite Life of Zack and Cody star hasn't mentioned anyone in particular, fans suggested that she might be referring to the celebrity mom group she was publicly part of for some time.
This has only been fuelled by the fact that Tisdale unfollowed both Mandy Moore and Hilary Duff on Instagram, who were allegedly in the group, as reported by MailOnline.
Tisdale, who also shares a 16-month-old son, Emerson, with her husband Christopher French, was previously a core member of the celebrity mom group, and in 2022, she reportedly shared a post, which has since been deleted, documenting a girls' trip.
She penned at the time: "Moms weekend away! I love being surrounded by these ladies. What an amazing group of women to journey through this mom-hood together! So grateful for this trip."
However, nothing has actually been confirmed, including who she's talking about, so take this all with a grain of salt!
And as we say, according to TMZ, Tisdale's rep has actually denied the rumours in a statement, clarifying that Tisdale was not referring to Moore or Duff.
The rep said that 'there’s zero truth to what online "detectives" think they’ve cracked' and the essay is actually about a 'completely different group of friends', adding that Tisdale's 'beautiful, meaningful' essay was supposed to focus on exclusion in friendship groups, which is a 'real issue' in 'mom circles'.
Tyla has contacted representatives for Tisdale, Duff, and Moore for comment.