Hilary Duff Addresses Ashley Tisdale Toxic Mom Group Essay Drama

Hilary Duff is sort of responding to Ashley’s Tisdale’s claims from her essay in The Cut, in which she explained that she had to leave her “toxic mom group.”

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, published on Friday, Duff was asked about the drama that stemmed from Tisdale’s essay last month and if it led her to pause reentering the pop world. The High School Musical actress’ essay described how she ended relationships in her mom group circle because she felt left out and that it was becoming toxic.

Even though Tisdale didn’t name drop anyone, she and Duff have been photographed together as being a part of the same mom group. And after Tisdale’s essay was published, Duff’s husband and singer-songwriter, Matthew Koma, fired back by posting a photo to his Instagram Story of himself photoshopped onto Tisdale’s body with a fictional headline that reads: “When You’re The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers.”

“This is not new for me,” Duff told the Los Angeles Times regarding the drama. “I’ve had this since I was maybe 15 and starting to get followed around by paparazzi. 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.”

She continued to explain that attention is now escalated by spreading information on TikTok. “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,’” Duff said. “I saw something that was like, ‘None of the moms at school actually like her and neither do the teachers,’ and I was like, ‘First of all… By the way, the women at school are lovely and I’m obsessed with all of them.”

In Tisdale’s essay, she explains what led her to break up with her friend group. “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,” she wrote. “Another time, at one of the mom’s dinner parties, I realized 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. At first, I tried not to take things personally. It’s not like people aren’t allowed to get together without me — and maybe there were perfectly good reasons that I hadn’t been invited. We were all busy, life was hectic.”

She also said she didn’t know why she was being left out, but it made her feel like she was “in high school again” and “totally lost.” Tisdale reached out to members of the group and recalled that it “didn’t exactly go over well.

“Some of the others tried to smooth things over. One sent flowers, then ignored me when I thanked her for them. Another tried to convince me that everyone assumed I’d been invited to gatherings and just hadn’t shown up,” she wrote before adding, “You deserve to go through motherhood with people who actually, you know, like you. 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.”