Hilary Duff doesn’t think people had to “connect very many dots” to figure out who Ashley Tisdale French’s “toxic” mom group article was about.
“I felt really sad. I honestly felt really sad. I was pretty, pretty taken aback and felt just sad,” Duff, 38, said during the Wednesday, February 25, episode of the “Call Her Daddy” podcast. “I have so many groups of friends. I’m so lucky.”
She added, “I have my core group of friends who have been my ride or dies for 20 years … and I have tons of different groups of mom friends because I have four kids.”
Tisdale French, 40, made headlines last month when she penned an essay for New York Magazine’s The Cut titled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group.” Tisdale French claimed she was “left out of a couple of group hangs” and started to “feel frozen out” of the friend group.
“I told myself it was all in my head, and it wasn’t a big deal,” the Suite Life of Zack and Cody alum wrote at the time. “And yet, I could sense a growing distance between me and the other members of the group.”
Tisdale French didn’t name any specific members of her former friend group, but eagle-eyed fans were quick to connect her to several stars — including Duff. (Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor were also linked to the drama.)
“It sucks to read something that’s not true, and it sucks on behalf of six women and all of their lives,” Duff said during Wednesday’s “Call Her Daddy” episode.
Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, seemingly confirmed Tisdale French’s article was about his wife with an Instagram Story making fun of The Cut article. Duff told “Call Her Daddy” host Alex Cooper that she had no idea that was coming.
“Honestly, everything he does makes me laugh. So, I was like, ‘Oh my god. Oh my god.’ But I also don’t censor him and I don’t tell him what he can and can’t post,” Duff explained. “He is so fierce for me and I love him for that.”
Duff made it clear that there was nothing else she wanted to clarify on the subject.
“I think it came at, like, the craziest time,” she concluded. “The timing felt not great and I felt used.”
This is the second time Duff has addressed the mom group drama claims since Tisdale French’s article went viral.
“The women at school are lovely and I’m obsessed with all of them,” Duff told the Los Angeles Times in an article published on Saturday, February 21. “I mean, this is not new for me. I’ve had this since I was maybe 15 and starting to get followed around by [photographers].”
She added, “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.”
