Ashley Tisdale has spoken out on leaving her ‘toxic mom group’.
The shock move has raised eyebrows among fans as the High School Musical star, 40, once raved about her A-list ‘village of moms’ which included Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor, revealing her delight at the connections she made after her first daughter, Jupiter, was born in 2021.
Ashley, who also shares a 16-month-old son Emerson with her composer husband Christopher French, joined the mom group created by her longtime friend and fellow child star Hilary and the pals have shared vacations, bably classes and play dates over the past four years.
But Ashley has now written an article about ‘breaking up with my toxic mom group’, criticising former friends for making her feel ‘frozen out’ in her vulnerable postpatum months.
Expanding on a November 2025 post for her blog ByAshleyFrench, Ashley has penned an article for The Cut. The actress hasn’t dropped any names in the piece but fans have noticed the damning articles comes hot on the heels of Ashley unfollowing both Mandy and Hilary on Instagram.
Ashley writes in the article that she began to notice she wasn’t invited to some gatherings which she later saw photos of on Instagram and ‘it took me back to an unpleasant but familar feeling I thought I’d left behind years ago.’
Ashley Tisdale (pictured left) has spoken out on leaving her ‘toxic mom group’. The shock move has raised eyebrows among fans as the High School Musical star, 40, once raved about her A-list ‘village of moms’ which included Hilary Duff (centre), Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor (right)
‘Here I was sitting alone one night after getting my daughter to bed thinking Maybe I’m not cool enough? All of a sudden I was in high school again, feeling totally lost as to what I was doig ‘wrong’ to be left out.’
She decided to cut ties, writing that ‘I texted to the group after being left out from yet another group hang: “This is too high school for me and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.”‘
‘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.’
Ashley was previously a core member of the A-list mom group. In 2022 she shared a post, that has snce been deleted, documenting a fun girls’ trip with Hilary and Meghan Trainor among others, writing:
‘Moms weekend away! I love being surrounded by these ladies. What an amazing group of women to journey through this mom-hood together! So grateful for this trip.’
More recently she gave a shout out to her mom friends in January 2025 when she thanked them for supporting her during the Los Angeles wildfires.
‘The human connection is not lost. Shout out to the mom group that’s there in the highs and lows,’ she wrote at the time.
Mom of four Hilary and mom of three Mandy meanwhile have been close friends for years since having babies around the same time.
Ashley, who also shares a 16-month-old son Emerson with her composer husband Christopher French, joined the mom group created by her longtime friend and fellow child star Hilary Duff (Hilary and Ashley pictured together in 2011)
Ashley has now written an article about ‘breaking up with my toxic mom group’, criticising former friends for making her feel ‘frozen out’ in her vulnerable postpatum months
Their enduring friendship even saw them living together during the wildfires a year ago when Mandy lost her family home.
The pair recently proved their friendship is still going strong as last month they shared photos from a trip with their kids to see a Christmas lights display.
Both have openly spoken about the support they have felt from the mom group with Mandy gushing in a 2022 interview with InStyle that she had ‘made so many wonderful friends. We all just gathered earlier this week and had dinner and we have baby classes together and it’s incredible.’
‘It’s so much fun. I’m very, very grateful to have those resources and just incredible women to be able to lean on. We’re all kind of going through this chapter of our lives together.’
In December 2024 Hilary also gushed about the friendship, explaining to People.com: ‘I feel like our big connection to one another, even though we’re pop stars or on TV, is we love our kids.’
Mom of four Hilary and mom of three Mandy have been close friends for years since having babies around the same time (pictured left and centre with other friends at Mandy’s 2022 baby shower)
The pair recently proved their friendship is still going strong as last month they shared photos from a trip with their kids to see a Christmas lights display
‘They were little baby worms when we all first got together and started music class at my house. Now, we’re in art class together, and we’re in gymnastics class together, and we’re just, like, moms.’
‘I actually really wonder if, when the kids are older, they’re all still going to be friends, and if it’s going to be helpful having friends [whose] parents are somewhat in the public eye,’ she says.
Ashley though seems resolute in her decision to move away from the group, writing on her blog: ‘The time you do spend with others will actually feel good, because you’ll be with people who see you, who include you, who want you there.’
