Hilary Duff’s Husband Hints at Why Ashley Tisdale French Was Dropped From ‘Toxic’ Mom Group: ‘Self-Obsessed, Tone Deaf'
Matthew Koma, Hilary Duff’s husband, is weighing in on the buzz around Ashley Tisdale French’s “toxic” mom friend group.
The 38-year-old musician took to his Instagram Story on January 6 to post his version of French’s viral essay in The Cut by seemingly photoshopping his head onto the actress’s body.
Koma also added an alternate headline that read, “When You’re The Most Self-Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers,” with a sub-headline that read, “A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father’s Eyes.”
“Read my new interview with @TheCut,” Koma, who shares three daughters with Duff, captioned the Instagram Story post.
The scathing headline appears to be a response to French’s January 5 essay titled, “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group,” an essay in which she describes being alienated by a group of moms that she befriended after the birth of her first daughter, Jupiter, in 2021.
The essay, which initially started as a post on her By Ashley French blog, led fans to speculate that the friend group French is referring to includes Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor. The four stars were regularly seen together on social media between 2021 and 2024, after the birth of French’s second daughter, Emerson.
Moore, Duff, and Trainor still regularly hang out.
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“If a mom group consistently leaves you feeling hurt, drained or left out, it’s not the mom group for you,” French wrote in the essay, which kept those involved anonymous. “Choosing to step away doesn’t make you mean or judgmental. It makes you honest with yourself. It’s also worth remembering that friendships, like all relationships, have seasons.”
The High School Musical star described finding out via social media that the other women in the group were hanging out without her. “As I increasingly felt left out, I remembered something. Or rather, someone,” French recalled. “During the early days of the group, there was another mom who often wasn’t included. I’d picked up on hints of a weird dynamic, but at the time, I didn’t dwell on it too much. I was just so happy to have found these incredible, smart, funny women.”
French claims she confronted the women, texting them, “This is too high school for me and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.” After some failed attempts to reconcile, they parted ways. “You deserve to go through motherhood with people who actually, you know, like you,” she concluded.
Amid speculation online, French’s rep told TMZ that the piece wasn’t about Moore, Duff, and Trainor. However, with Duff’s husband of six years weighing in, it might be hard to convince fans otherwise.
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