Ashley Tisdale Ditched the ‘Toxic’ A-List Mom Group — and Good for Her

Ashley Tisdale just dropped the mic on Hollywood mom clique culture — and her former friend group may never recover.

In a bold new essay for The Cut, the actress and mom of two opened up about the “toxic” dynamics of a once-close circle of celeb moms.

The exclusive mom group reportedly included Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor.

Too High School

Tisdale says the group left her feeling drained, excluded, and like she just wasn’t “cool enough” to belong.

“I remember sitting alone one night after getting my daughter to bed, feeling totally lost as to what I was doing ‘wrong’ to be left out,” she wrote.

READ MORE: Britney, Christina, Mandy: Pick Your Fighter — Just Don’t Pick Her (She Said It, Not Us!)

Eventually, she hit her limit — and made it clear via text.

“This is too high school for me, and I don’t want to take part in it anymore,” Tisdale told the ladies as she made her exit.

While she doesn’t believe any of the women (except maybe one) are bad people, she said the vibe had turned toxic — so she walked away.

Behind the Glossy Group Pics

According to Tisdale, the Instagram-perfect image didn’t match the real-life dynamic. She described “mean girl behavior,” secret group chats, and clique-y subgroups forming within the circle.

After the third or fourth time of seeing social media photos of everyone else at a hangout I didn’t get invited to, it felt like I wasn’t really part of the group after all.

The experience, she said, “brought [her] to tears” — and forced her to rethink the kind of friendships she wants around herself and her daughters, Jupiter and Emerson.

The Subtle Unfollows

Tisdale never drops names in the essay — but she no longer follows Hilary Duff or Mandy Moore on Instagram. She does still follow Meghan Trainor, who wasn’t mentioned in any of the more cutting commentary.

Meanwhile, Duff spoke glowingly about the group as recently as late 2024, telling People: “They were little baby worms when we all first got together... I feel like our big connection to one another... is we love our kids.”

Now? It looks like one of those worms mamas has wriggled free — and she’s not crawling back