The drama of the “toxic mom group” enters Ashley Tisdale French, Hilary Duff And Mandy Moore took the internet by storm this week.
“The root of the problem was that some women became closer friends with each other, and Ashley started to feel left out,” a source exclusively said. Us every week. “There were times when outings or meetings were arranged last minute, often casual outings or quick dinners, and Ashley was not included. There were no bad intentions. Friendships naturally changed and some people bonded more than others.”
The source adds that French, 40, began to feel “less included” in the group, but emphasizes that the other group members “didn’t want to exclude her.”
French went viral this week after posting an essay for The cuttitled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group,” on January 1. In the article, the High school musical the star described feeling excluded from her mom friends and how she finally left the group.
Ashley Tisdale French’s unfiltered comment about being excluded from a “toxic” mom group has caught the attention of many other 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 spoke […]
“They felt like she was making a big deal. Much of the tension came from what the group saw as a conflict of priorities and values,” the source continues. “There were a lot of bonding moments that Ashley felt like she missed out on.”
Additionally, the source claims there were “ongoing communication issues and low-key tensions” between French, Duff, 38, and Moore, 41, that “built up over time.”
“Hilary and Mandy are extremely close, as are Kelsey Deenihan (their makeup artist), who is in the group, and a few others, and that dynamic naturally shaped the group,” the source notes. “At times it made Ashley feel like she didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the circle.”
As for how French is doing since leaving the group, a second source said the Disney Channel alum “moved her primary residence to Malibu and feels more at peace than ever.”
“It’s been a breath of fresh air and she’s in a much better place,” the source concludes.
Us every week contacted representatives of French, Duff and Moore.
French has not yet responded to discussions surrounding her essay, which was published after a blog post she previously wrote on the topic.
“There’s a recent topic that has had my phone blowing up like no other since I first posted about it a few weeks ago. It’s a topic that has had women telling me ‘I feel seen’ and sharing their most moving stories with me,” French wrote. “It’s the one that also made online sleuths try to do investigations like they were on CSI (please don’t even try – anything you think is true isn’t even close). The subject matter? Mom group drama.”
Ashley, who shares daughters Jupiter, 4, and Emerson, 15 months, with her husband Christophe Frenchrecalls “feeling left out,” adding: “I told myself it was all in my head and it wasn’t a big deal. And yet, I felt a growing distance between me and the other members of the group, who didn’t even seem to care that I wasn’t there much.”
Ashley Tisdale French has raised eyebrows after revealing alleged toxicity in her mom group — and her former child star Christy Carlson Romano has some thoughts. “The celebrity mom drama is crazy to watch unfold from outside the group,” Romano, 41, wrote via Instagram on Monday, January 5, also adding in her caption that she’s “keeping busy […]
Ashley said she eventually messaged the group: “It’s too high school for me and I don’t want to be in it anymore.”
Although Ashley did not name anyone in particular in the essay, she was previously known to spend time in a group of mothers which included Moore, Duff and Meghan Trainor. Fans began speculating that these celebrity moms were the “mean girls” in question, but a rep for Ashley denied that the trial was about these women in a statement to TMZ. French’s rep also shut down rumors that the breakup was due to a difference in political opinions.
Despite the refusal, Duff’s husband, Matthew But, hit back at the try with an Instagram Story in which he shared a photo of himself recreating French’s cover photo for The Cup. He titled his fictional essay: “A group of moms tell it all through a dad’s eyes. When you’re the most self-obsessed deaf person on earth, other moms tend to focus on their little ones.”
