Ashley Tisdale French‘s husband, Christopher French, is seemingly addressing where he stands amid his wife’s recent mom group drama.
The composer, 44, took to his Instagram Story on Tuesday, January 6, to repost a graphic from artist Tyler Spangler, which was initially uploaded in November 2025.
“It’s your choice whether or not to engage,” the quote read.
While the context of Christopher’s post is unclear, he followed up with several Instagram Stories referencing the 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
The cryptic upload came shortly after Ashley, 40, opened up about leaving behind a “toxic” group of mom friends in an essay written for The Cut earlier this month.
In the now-viral article, the High School Musical star reflected on feeling at home with a circle of fellow moms she began spending time with after welcoming her first baby with Christopher in 2021. (The couple share daughters Jupiter, 4, and Emerson, 15 months.)
Later on, however, Ashley wondered whether she really fit in. “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. “I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me. … I told myself it was all in my head, and it wasn’t a big deal. And yet, I could sense a growing distance between me and the other members of the group, who seemed to not even care that I wasn’t around much.”
When another group outing took place without her, Ashley sent a text to her friends saying, “This is too high school for me, and I don’t want to take part in it anymore” — which “didn’t exactly go over well” with the other women.
“Some of the others tried to smooth things over,” the actress recalled. “One sent flowers, then ignored me when I thanked her for them. … To be clear, I have never considered the moms to be bad people. (Maybe one.) But I do think our group dynamic stopped being healthy and positive — for me, anyway.”
After Ashley shared her story, theories began to spread on social media that the mom group in question may have included Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor, among others. A rep for Ashley shut down the speculation to TMZ, saying the essay’s intention was to highlight the relatable experience of distancing oneself from a group of friends.
The drama didn’t end there, however. Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, shared his own version of Ashley’s essay via his Instagram Story on Tuesday.
“A mom group tell-all through a father’s eyes,” the spoof article read. “When you’re the most self-obsessed tone-deaf person on earth, other moms tend to shift focus to their actual toddlers.”
Koma, 38, included a photo of himself and Duff, also 38, posing together on a couch. “Read my new interview with @thecut,” he wrote.
The upload has since disappeared, and Duff has not addressed Ashley’s essay herself.
