Hilary Duff slams Ashley Tisdale for lying about ‘toxic’ mom group
It's the latest update in the viral 'toxic mom group' saga
Rhiannon Ingle
Hilary Duff has shared her thoughts on Ashley Tisdale's claims about a so-called 'toxic mom group'.
The two Disney Channel stars have found themselves caught up in quite the dramatic back-and-forth, with tensions reaching a peak after Tisdale went viral last month when she wrote an essay in The Cut about how she left her 'toxic' pals in 2025.
The High School Musical alum said that after welcoming her first daughter, Jupiter Iris French, in March 2021, she was 'craving connection with other mothers'.
Tisdale shared that she 'felt lucky' and was sure she had 'found her village' when a friend 'brought together a group of new moms that she knew'. It led to playdates and a busy parenting group chat.
Advert
But then, according to the actress, things started to shift as she began to feel 'frozen out of the group' and eventually left the chat because it was 'too high school' for her.
No names were mentioned, and her representative has denied the speculation, but fans were utterly convinced the piece pointed to a celebrity mum circle she was once publicly linked to, which included Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor.
Online sleuths went into overdrive, but as we say, her rep insisted that the essay refers to a 'completely different group of friends' and said the 'beautiful, meaningful' piece was meant to explore exclusion in friendship groups, a 'real issue' in 'mom circles'.
Duff has since shared her thoughts on the matter, appearing on Alex Cooper's Call Her Daddy podcast on Wednesday (25 February), where she opened up about feeling 'used' over the viral drama.
"I felt really sad. I honestly felt really sad," the Lizzie McGuire star explained. "I was pretty taken aback and felt just sad."
She recalled her first reaction was 'whoa', before stating that Tisdale's claims were 'not true'.
"It sucks on behalf of, like, six women," she carried on.
During the podcast, Duff also addressed her husband Matthew Koma who got involved as he recreated Tisdale's image on The Cut article and shared it to his Instagram story, alongside the text: "A mom group tell all through a father’s eyes: When You’re the Most Self-Obsessed Tone Deaf Person on Earth, Other Moms Tend to Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers."
Duff confirmed that she didn't actually know about her hubby's post ahead of time, saying: "Honestly, everything he does makes me laugh. So I was like, 'Oh, my God.' But I also don’t censor him, and I don’t tell him what he can and can’t post. He is so, like, fierce for me, and I love him for that."
Koma quickly deleted the post at the time, but it's clear the internet already ran wild with it.
Tisdale’s husband, Christopher French, then seemingly got involved after sharing an Instagram post, reading: "It’s your choice whether or not to engage."
Tyla has reached out to both Hilary Duff and Ashley Tisdale's representatives for comment.