Ashley Tisdale French raised eyebrows earlier this month when she revealed she exited her “toxic” mom friend group nearly five years after bonding with the women over pregnancy and motherhood.
“Here I was sitting alone one night after getting my daughter to bed, thinking, ‘Maybe I’m not cool enough?’” Ashley, who shares daughters Jupiter, 4, and Emerson, 16 months, with husband Christopher French, recalled in an essay for New York Magazine‘s The Cut published on January 1. “All of a sudden, I was in high school again, feeling totally lost as to what I was doing ‘wrong’ to be left out.”
Soon after Ashley shared her truth — in an essay titled “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group” — fans started to wonder which friends she had cut from her life.
Some internet theorists wondered whether Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore or Meghan Trainor were possible suspects, but TMZ reported on January 5 that Ashley’s rep said there was “zero truth to what online ‘detectives’ think they’ve cracked” about the mom group, claiming the piece wasn’t about those three women.
Scroll down to meet Ashley’s celebrity mom group — and see who she is seemingly still friends with now:
Hilary Duff
Hilary Duff’s friendship with Ashley dates back to 2021, when their daughters Mae and Jupiter became friends shortly after they were born. Fans were made aware of the friendship that July after Duff hosted a baby music playdate and Ashley was one of the guests. (Duff shares daughters Banks, 7, Mae, 4, and Townes, 20 months, with husband Matthew Koma and son Luca, 11, with ex-husband Mike Comrie.)
Duff and Ashley continued their friendship for a few years, going on a moms’ trip in July 2022 and spending time as a squad as recently as December 2024. Duff appeared to be on good terms with Ashley in March 2025, commenting on Ashley’s birthday tribute to daughter Jupiter with the message, “Happy birthday JuJu.”
Eagle-eyed fans noticed in January 2026, however, that neither Duff nor Ashley follow each other on Instagram anymore. Ashley’s rep, meanwhile, denied that her essay about the friendship fallout was written about Duff.
Duff’s involvement in the group was all but confirmed on January 6, however, when her husband, Matthew Koma, publicly weighed in on French’s essay via his Instagram Stories. Sharing a tongue-in-cheek “promotion” of his own fictional The Cut article, the musician wrote, “A mom group tell-all through a father’s eyes: When you’re the most self-obsessed tone-deaf person on earth, other moms tend to shift focus to their actual toddlers.”
Koma further joked, “Read my new interview with @thecut.”
Mandy Moore
“We had babies at the same time,” Mandy Moore told InStyle in May 2022 of how she joined Hilary Duff’s mom squad that included Ashley. “And [Hilary], being the supermom that she is, formed a cool mom club. Somehow, I got invited into it, and it’s the best.”
Like Duff and Ashley, Moore welcomed a baby, son Gus, in 2021, which bonded the women. While Moore wasn’t on the 2022 mom trip that took over social media, she was tagged by several women as someone who was missed. (Moore shares sons Gus, 4, and Ozzie, 3, and daughter Lou, 15 months, with husband Taylor Goldsmith.)
While Ashley’s rep denied her “toxic” mom group comments in January were directed at Moore, Ashley is no longer following the This Is Us alum on social media. Moore, however, is still following the former Disney Channel star.
Meghan Trainor
Meghan Trainor was part of Duff’s “cool mom club” starting in 2021 after she welcomed her eldest child, son Riley, now 4. (Trainor also shares son Barry, 2, with husband Daryl Sabara.)
“I have mom friends🥹 and I love them💖,” the singer captioned a summer 2022 Instagram post from a parent trip away, including snaps with Ashley and Duff.
According to TMZ, Ashley’s rep denied that Trainor was one of the people Ashley was referring to in her essay for The Cut. Observant fans have also learned that both Ashley and Trainor still follow each other on social media.
Janice Gott
Janice Gott, founder of the Muu breast pump company, has been part of Ashley’s mom crew since 2022 when they were on a girls’ trip together. Gott is the mother of one child, son Teddy.
As of December 2024, they were still close, according to social media. “I wish I had more photos with all the friends and like … my husband LOL but the point of this post is to say there is nothing like mom friends, or a husband who tells you to quit your career so you can build the other one that’s burning an idea in your brain, and then doing it so you can have a pound of caviar on a Thursday morning bc you said so,” Gott captioned a group photo after Ashley, Duff, Moore, Trainor and Dalkin all came out to support her company’s event.
As of January, Ashley is still following Gott on Instagram.
Gaby Dalkin
Chef Gaby Dalkin, who is known for her cookbook series What’s Gaby Cooking, was one of the moms who took a girls’ trip in 2022. Dalkin, whose eldest child, daughter Poppy, was born in 2021, is still part of Duff’s group, according to social media. (Dalkin also shares son Finn, born in 2024, with her husband, Thomas.)
“We’re not regular moms, we’re cool moms,” Dalkin wrote via Instagram in October 2025 after another mom trip away, which neither Ashley nor Trainor attended. “Nothing better than a getaway with zero responsibilities, great friends, all the food and ALL the mahj.”
Ashley, for her part, is not following Dalkin on Instagram, but it is unclear whether she ever was.
Amanda Kassar
While Amanda Kassar, the Pilates by Amanda founder, seemingly isn’t part of Duff’s “cool mom club,” she is part of Ashley’s squad. (Kassar is a mother of two.)
The fitness instructor to the stars spent time with Ashley in October 2025 in support of Ashley’s wellness brand Being Frenshe, calling the actress her “dear friend” via Instagram.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens has been friends with Ashley since they were acting in commercials as kids. Their bond strengthened after playing rivals in Disney Channel’s High School Musical film franchise. However, as they got older, fans started to wonder where they stood.
“She’s so awesome and one of my best friends,” Ashley exclusively told Us Weekly in 2019. “What I love about her is that she’s so talented, and I think what we share is that we’re really grounded people and I think that that’s important, especially with what we do, is to stay grounded.”
After Ashley welcomed her first baby in March 2021, Hudgens was one of her friends that bonded with the baby upon their first meeting. However, rumors surfaced in December 2023 that the women were no longer close after Ashley was noticeably absent from Hudgens and Cole Tucker’s Mexico wedding. (Hudgens shares two children with the MLB player.)
“I haven’t seen her in a long time,” Ashley confessed in March 2024 during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen, noting their lives as mothers played a part in their growing distance. “I think we’re just — obviously, she’s working, I’m working. I have a daughter, so she’s a full-time job.”
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