Key Takeaways
- Former Disney channel stars Ashley Tisdale and Hilary Duff appear to be involved in a drama surrounding a mom group
- Tisdale wrote an essay about feeling excluded from the group, which allegedly includes Duff and other high-profile women
- Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, responded to the essay with a sarcastic Instagram post
- The drama has sparked conversation on social media, with many fans weighing in on the situation
- The incident is reminiscent of high school cliques and exclusivity, with Tisdale feeling left out and unsure of why
Introduction to the Drama
Beef looks a little different these days for some former teen actors from the early 2000s. Along with the return of low-rise jeans and trucker hats, the world can also now revel in what appears to be drama between two former Disney channel stars. The drama began when The Cut published a personal essay from actress Ashley Tisdale titled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group.” In the essay, Tisdale wrote about how she and some friends had formed a group chat to talk about being new moms, after all being “pregnant through the early pandemic” and missing out “on the activities where you meet other expectant mothers.”
The Mom Group
Through the chat and the playdates it spawned, Tisdale initially believed she had found her “village,” she wrote. At some point, she “began to wonder whether that was really true.” She recalled being left out of a couple of group hangs, and knowing about them because Instagram made sure it fed her every single photo and Instagram Story. Another time, at one of the mom’s dinner parties, she realized where she sat with her – which was at the end of the table, far from the rest of the women. She was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude her. She recalled other times being left out and feeling distanced from the group, all of which made her wonder “Why me?”
Feeling Excluded
The truth is, Tisdale doesn’t know and she probably never will. What she does know is that it took her back to an unpleasant but familiar feeling she thought she’d left behind years ago. She wrote, “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 doing ‘wrong’ to be left out.” This feeling of exclusion is something that many people can relate to, and it’s interesting to see how it can affect even celebrities like Tisdale.
The Response
Quicker than you could say “MomTok” (which has its own drama), internet sleuths quickly deduced by combing social media that said mom group included fellow actresses and child stars Hilary Duff and Mandy Moore as well as some other high-profile women living in Los Angeles. Then Duff’s husband, singer/songwriter Matthew Koma, metaphorically entered the chat. On Tuesday, Koma took to Instagram stories to post a photo of himself made to look like Tisdale’s photo in her Cut essay using the outlet’s logo and a fake headline reading “When You’re The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers.” He added a subheadline that read “A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father’s Eyes” and included as a caption “Read my new interview with @TheCut.”
The Players Involved
Duff, who starred in Disney Channel’s hit series “Lizzie McGuire” as a teen, married Koma, who is in the band Winnetka Bowling League, in 2019 and they are the parents of three young daughters. She also shares a son with her ex-husband Mike Comrie. Tisdale’s essay for The Cut is not her first on the subject to go viral. In December 2025, a post on her blog headlined “You’re Allowed to Leave Your Mom Group” under her married name, Ashley French, stirred conversation on social media. CNN has reached out to reps for Tisdale, Duff, Koma, and Moore for comment.
Conclusion
The drama between Tisdale and Duff’s mom group is a reminder that exclusivity and cliques can exist even among adults. It’s interesting to see how social media can amplify these feelings and create a sense of FOMO (fear of missing out). The situation also highlights the challenges of navigating relationships and friendships as a new mom. While it’s unclear what the future holds for Tisdale and the mom group, one thing is certain – the drama has sparked a lot of conversation and debate on social media. As the situation continues to unfold, it will be interesting to see how it affects the relationships between the parties involved and how it impacts the broader conversation around mom groups and exclusivity.
