Hilary Duff has now addressed the online “toxic mom group” controversy that sparked widespread discussion.
The situation began after Ashley Tisdale wrote an essay for The Cut describing why she chose to step away from what she called a ‘toxic’ celebrity mom circle.
In the essay, she said she felt pushed out of the group and left on the outside looking in.
Tisdale didn’t identify anyone directly, which led to plenty of guessing about who she meant.
Those theories quickly picked up steam, since Tisdale has previously been photographed alongside Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor.
Amid the chatter, Duff’s husband also weighed in previously on social media in support of his wife, and Duff later said his reaction made her laugh.
Now, Duff has shared her side of the story during an appearance on the Call Her Daddy podcast.
Explaining how she felt when the story first started circulating, Duff said:
“I felt really sad. I honestly felt really sad. I was, like, pretty, pretty taken aback and felt just, like, sad.”
She continued:
“So I think I just was like, ‘Woah’. It sucks to read something that’s, like, not true. And it sucks on behalf of, like, six women in all of their lives.”
Duff also suggested the article landed at an especially difficult moment, saying it “came at the craziest time where I was like, the timing felt not great and I felt used.”
Talking more broadly about her friendships, she said:
“I have so many groups of friends. I’m so lucky,” Duff said. “Motherhood has brought on like, I have my core group of friends who have been my ride or dies for 20 years, 10 to 20 years, and I have like tons of different groups of mom friends because I have four kids, you know?
“It sucks to read something that’s like not true, and it sucks on behalf of like six women in all of their lives.”
Her husband, Matthew Koma, had already made his thoughts clear before Duff’s podcast appearance.
He posted online recreating Tisdale’s pose from the article and added his own spin to the headline.
He wrote: “When You’re The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers.”
Duff said she wasn’t aware he was going to share it beforehand, but she took it in stride.
“Honestly, everything he does makes me laugh,” she said. “So I was like, ‘Oh my God. Oh my God.’
“But I also don’t censor him, and I don’t tell him what he can and can’t post. He is so, like, fierce for me, and, like, I love him for that.”