Hilary Duff breaks silence on Ashley Tisdale’s ‘toxic mom group’ drama

Hilary Duff has come clean.

The pop star has finally reacted to Ashley Tisdale’s viral essay for The Cut, in which the “High School Musical” actress shared that she broke up with her mom friend group after it became toxic.

Although Tisdale didn’t name names, eagle-eyed fans quickly found past pictures of the Frenshe founder with Duff, Meghan Trainor, Mandy Moore and others.

“I mean, this is not new for me. I’ve had this since I was maybe 15 and starting to get followed around by paparazzi,” the “Lizzie McGuire” star said while speaking with the Los Angeles Times on Friday. “Everything starts getting documented and everyone knows my life and all the players in it.”

“So the stories that get news pickup — it’s not what happens to a normal person who maybe became an actor as an adult. And now it’s escalated by the talking heads on TikTok that need clickbait,” Duff, 38, continued.

“It’s hard because you’re like, ‘Wait, whoa, that person kind of got it right,’ and ‘Whoa, that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about.’”

After being asked if she can just tune out the online noise, the artist said it “depends on the day.”

Duff has her family, including husband Matthew Koma, and kids Luca, 13, Banks, 7, Mae, 4, and Townes, 20 months, to ground her.

“Knowing that I get to open up the backdoors and play soccer as a family and take a hot tub and go get our chicken eggs — that’s the purpose of life,” she added. “On the days when crazy s–t happens, I go home and quiet the noise.”

In December 2025, Tisdale released a blog post, titled “You’re Allowed to Leave Your Mom Group,” which took the internet by storm.

“When I became a mom, I craved connection almost as much as I craved sleep. So I did what a lot of us do. I joined a mom group,” the “He Said She Said” singer, 40, said in her post. “But here’s the thing nobody prepared me for: Mom groups can turn toxic.”

Tisdale noted, “Not because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior. I know this from personal experience.”

Tisdale, who shares daughters Jupiter, 4, and Emerson, 1, with husband Christopher French, recalled to the Cut that she texted the group, “This is too high school for me and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.”

Duff previously remained silent on Tisdale’s accusations, but Koma, 38, seemingly shaded the “Suite Life of Zack & Cody” alum on his own social media.

The Grammy winner took to his Instagram Stories to share a fake mocked-up cover of himself on the cover of the Cut.

Atop the image, in which he struck a thoughtful pose, a fake headline read, “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.”

He added in the caption, “Read my new interview with @thecut.”