Hilary Duff opened up about cutting ties with friends months before drama ensued surrounding Ashley Tisdale French’s essay about a “toxic” mom group.
When asked on a November 2025 episode of the “Therapuss” podcast whether “trusting people [was] hard” for her at an early age, Duff, 38, replied, “Yeah, there was a few people where I was like, ‘Oh I think that person is not trustworthy.’”
“I’ve always had a really good gauge of people. I think it’s, like, a little talent that I have. I have really good friends and it doesn’t take me long to figure someone out or just figure out that someone’s not for me,” she continued, noting that she didn’t “run in a huge group of celebs” growing up. “I think that was also very good for my health back then. I wasn’t, like, spilling out the clubs with other teen stars and stuff.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, host Jake Shane asked Duff whether she would call herself “the mom” of her friend group, to which she admitted she was — but added that people don’t always come to her for their problems.
“I think that a lot of us hold that space for each other, like, to where we could come with problems, but I’m just very direct. Maybe a little too much sometimes,” she said, adding that she doesn’t “like to fight with people” but doesn’t “like to have a rub with someone or something and not work through it.”
She continued, “That drives me crazy. It infiltrates every aspect of my life so I need to like handle my s***.”
Duff went on to note that a “friendship breakup” can “possibly be worse than a breakup breakup.” Duff explained that sometimes “you have to friend cleanse,” adding, “It’s OK to edit. But you feel like a bad person when you’re doing it.”
“You have to just own it and be like, ‘I can’t show up for you in this capacity right now. It feels overwhelming. And, blah blah blah. Like, I need some space,’” she said. “I’ve had to do it a few times. I just always want my side of the street to be clean. You know what I mean? I don’t want to make anyone feel bad by my actions. I’d rather have a conversation about it.”
Ashley Tisdale French’s unfiltered commentary on being iced out of a “toxic” mom group has caught the attention of many fellow celebrities. In January 2026, Ashley — who shares two daughters with husband Christopher French — raised eyebrows with an essay for The Cut titled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group” as she candidly […]
Duff’s comments have since resurfaced after French’s January 1 essay for The Cut — where she wrote about feeling excluded by an unnamed group of moms in her California neighborhood —- went viral.
While French did not name the mom group she was referring to, rumors began to swirl that she was alluding to friendships with fellow celebrities Duff, Mandy Moore, Meghan Trainor and more.
French’s rep denied the rumors in a Monday, January 5, statement to TMZ. The rep also noted that French wanted her piece to highlight an issue other women and moms can relate to. (Us Weekly reached out to Duff and French’s teams for comment at the time.)
In the wake of the drama, Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, weighed in on the High School Musical star’s essay by promoting his own fictitious article with The Cut.
“A mom group tell-all through a father’s eyes,” Koma, 38, wrote via his Instagram Story on Tuesday, January 6. “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 seemingly gave his perspective on the drama by sharing a cryptic quote to his Instagram Story on Tuesday that read, “It’s your choice whether or not to engage.”
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