Haylie Duff has found herself involved with the drama surrounding Ashley Tisdale French’s essay on “toxic” mom groups.
Us Weekly can confirm Duff, 40, “liked” a joint Instagram post from both French, 40, and The Cut promoting an essay detailing the High School Musical star’s experience with a group of friends.
“LEAVE YOUR TOXIC FRIENDS BEHIND YOU IN 2026, says @ashleytisdalefrench,” the post read. “For #ItsBeenAYear, the actress, beauty founder, and mother details dumping her mom group, where the bullying between women mirrored their children’s playground antics. Read the story of how it all unfolded, in her own words, at the link in bio.”
While liking the post may appear to be innocent, there has been speculation that the mom group in question could include Haylie’s sister, Hilary Duff. (Us Weekly has reached out to Haylie, Hilary and French’s team for comment.)
In an Instagram Story posted on Tuesday, January 6, Hilary’s husband, Matthew Koma, slammed French’s essay.
“A mom group tell-all through a father’s eyes,” Koma, 38, wrote in a tongue-in-cheek “promotion” of his own (fictional) The Cut article. “When you’re the most self obsessed tone deaf person on earth, other moms tend to shift focus to their actual toddlers.”
Ashley’s husband, Christopher French, also inserted himself into the drama by posting a cryptic quote to his Instagram Story that read, “It’s your choice whether or not to engage.”
Haylie and Hilary, 38, have not been photographed together since 2019, leading some fans to believe the sisters are not as close as they once were.
In a November 2025 interview with Rolling Stone, Hilary seemed to address “family drama” while discussing her return to music.
“I have this crazy connection with fans that I’ve known since I was 9, 10 years old, and I just want to connect with them again,” she explained to the publication at the time. “We have gone through a lot of the same things — whether that’s complicated relationships, anxiety, raising kids, divorces, trying to find yourself in adulthood, family drama… Finally I felt safe enough and comfortable in my own family to step outside and open that part of myself up again.”
Ashley’s essay on toxic mom groups went viral at the start of the year. In the personal piece, the Being Frenshe founder detailed feeling excluded by a group of moms in her California neighborhood. Before officially stepping away from the group, she texted her peers, “This is too high school for me, and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.”
According to TMZ, Ashley’s rep denied rumors that she was referring to fellow celebrities Mandy Moore, Meghan Trainor and Hilary in her essay.
The rep added that Ashley had intended for her piece, titled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group,” to be a way to spotlight an issue that other women can relate to.
“You deserve to go through motherhood with people who actually, you know, like you,” Ashley wrote. “And if you have to wonder if they do, here’s the hard-earned lesson I hope you’ll take to heart: It’s not the right group for you. Even if it looks like they’re having the best time on Instagram.”
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