Hilary Duff opened up about cutting ties with friends months before the drama unfolded Ashley Tisdale French’s essay about a group of “toxic” mothers.
When asked in a November 2025 episode “Therapuss” Podcast if “trusting people (was) hard” for her at an early age, Duff, 38, replied: “Yeah, there were a few people where I was like, ‘Oh, I don’t think this person is trustworthy.'”
“I’ve always had a good caliber of people. I think it’s, like, a little bit of talent that I have. I have really good friends, and it doesn’t take long to figure out someone or just figure out that someone’s not for me,” she continued, noting that she “wasn’t part of a big celebrity group” growing up. “I think it was also really good for my health at the time. I wasn’t, like, spilling the clubs with other teen stars and stuff.”
Elsewhere on the podcast, host Jake Shane asked Duff if she would be called “the mom” in her group of friends, to which she admitted that she was, but added that people don’t always come to her with their problems.
Haylie Duff has been embroiled in the drama surrounding Ashley Tisdale French’s essay about “toxic” moms’ groups. Us Weekly can confirm that Duff, 40, “liked” a joint Instagram post from both French, 40, and The Cut promoting an essay detailing the High School Musical star’s experience with a group of friends. “LEAVE YOUR TOXIC FRIENDS (…)
“I think a lot of us have that space for each other, like now, where we could get into trouble, but I’m very direct. Maybe a little too much at times,” she said, adding that she doesn’t like to “fight with people” but doesn’t “like to rub shoulders with someone or something and not work on it.”
She continued: “It drives me crazy. It seeps into every aspect of my life, so I need to like handle my shit.”
Duff went on to note that a “friendship breakup” can “be worse than a breakup.” Duff explained that sometimes you “have to clean up a friend,” adding, “It’s okay to edit, but you feel like a bad person when you do it.”
“You have to own it and say, ‘I can’t present you in this capacity right now.’ It feels overwhelming. And blah, blah, blah. Like, I need some space,” he said. “I’ve had to do that a few times. I just want my side of the street to be clean. Do you know what I mean? I don’t want anyone to feel bad about my actions. I’d rather have a conversation about it.”
Ashley Tisdale French’s no-holds-barred comment about being kicked out of a “toxic” mom group has caught the attention of many 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 resurfaced after French’s January 1 essay by the cut — where she wrote about feeling excluded by an unnamed group of mothers in her California neighborhood — went viral.
Although French did not name the group of mothers she was referring to, rumors began to circulate that she was alluding to friendships with other celebrities Duff, Mandy Moore, Meghan Trainor and more
of the French the representative denied the rumors in a statement Monday, January 5 a TMZ. The representative also noted that French wanted her piece to highlight an issue that other women and mothers can relate to. (Us Weekly (reached out to Duff and French’s teams for comment at the time.)
Following the drama, Duff’s husband, Matthew Butweighed on him Musical Baccalaureate essay of the star of promoting his own fictitious article with the cut
“A group of moms tells it through the eyes of a dad,” Koma, 38, wrote via her Instagram story on Tuesday, January 6. “When you’re the most obsessed tone-deaf person on earth, other moms tend to focus on their little ones.”
Ashley’s husband, Christopher Frenchalso seemed to give his perspective on the drama of sharing a cryptic quote on her Instagram story on Tuesday that said, “It’s your choice whether or not you want to participate.”