Hilary Duff recently opened up about the emotional distance between herself and her sister, Haylie Duff, during a conversation with Jay Shetty. This candid discussion arose when Shetty read lyrics from Hilary’s song “We Don’t Talk,” which touches on the strained relationship between the two siblings.
The 38-year-old actress-singer was a guest on the latest episode of Shetty’s podcast, On Purpose, where she promoted her new album Luck… or Something.
With visible emotion, Hilary admitted, “My sister and I don’t speak,” her eyes brimming with tears. She acknowledged that, as she has matured, she has encountered many others experiencing similar familial rifts.
As she fought back tears, Hilary described this separation from her sister as “a very raw part of my existence,” yet expressed hope for the future. “I hope it’s not forever, but it’s for right now,” she said, offering a glimpse of optimism.
Hilary further explained her decision to address such personal subjects in her music. “As painful as it feels to share, when I decided to make this record, I could only talk about the things that I’ve gone through,” she revealed, highlighting the authenticity and vulnerability fueling her creative process.
Hilary added, ‘I hope it’s not forever, but it’s for right now.’
Hilary Duff got emotional while discussing her estrangement from her sister Haylie Duff with Jay Shetty
‘My sister and I don’t speak,’ she said plainly as her eyes welled up; pictured with Haylie in November 2017
She explained, ‘As painful as it feels to share, when I decided to make this record, I could only talk about the things that I’ve gone through.
‘Like there would be no purpose to make a record after 10 years than to face, you know, what it’s been like.’
‘That’s my truth,’ she emphasized. ‘And I really worked hard to lyrically make sure that I’m just speaking about my experience, you know?’
Duff sings in the track: ‘We come from the same home, the same blood / a different combination but the same lock / People ask me how you’re doing / I wanna say amazing / But the truth is that I don’t know / What I always end up saying is how we don’t talk.’
‘If it’s ’cause you’re jealous/ God knows I would sell it all, then break you off the bigger half.’
Although they were once close and worked together on showbiz projects like the 2006 movie Material Girls – a teen comedy inspired by Sense and Sensibility – the two sisters have not been glimpsed together in public since 2019.
Fueling rumors of a breakdown in their relationship, Haylie recently posted to social media sharing the viral article Ashley Tisdale wrote about her departure from a ‘toxic mom group’ that reputedly includes Hilary, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor.
When We Don’t Talk was released, conjecture exploded that the target was Haylie, and Hilary has since confirmed: ‘It’s definitely about my sister,’ on CBS Mornings.
‘And just absolutely the most lonely part of my existence is not having my sister in my life at the moment,’ she said, explaining that she ‘struggled with thinking about including that on the record’ before deciding to do so ‘because it’s my reality.’
She confessed she was ‘not sure’ that the song would ‘help’ repair her relationship with Haylie and that ‘I don’t know if she’ll hear it. I don’t know how she’ll react to it. But it is a really personal part of my life that doesn’t get to stay personal.’
Wiping away tears, she described the rift with her sibling as ‘a very raw part of my existence’
Elsewhere in the conversation the former child star briefly touched on her relationship with her dad, Robert Duff, revealing they don’t speak ‘very often’
Hilary’s husband Matthew Koma shared a photo on Instagram of the couple with his mother on Sunday night
Elsewhere in the conversation on Shetty’s podcast the former child star briefly touched on her relationship with her dad, Robert Duff.
Robert and wife Susan Duff divorced in 2008 after 20 years of marriage.
‘My dad and I don’t really have much of a relationship and we don’t speak very often. It’s hard because I think there’s not a whole bunch of answers,’ she divulged.
‘It’s really hard, I think, if a family breaks apart very dramatically,’ the former Lizzie McGuire sensation noted.
Hilary was married to former NHL star Mike Comrie, 45, from 2010-2016 and they share 13-year-old son Luca.
‘When it came for me getting divorced, I was like, “I’m not going to have that,”‘ she said about her parents’ contentious breakup.
‘We’re going to do holidays together as much as we can. Not that it was always easy, but it felt way easier than the alternative,’ the singer reflected.
She married musician Matthew Koma in 2019 and the couple welcomed daughters Banks, seven, Mae, five on March 24, and Townes, two in May.
Koma co-wrote and executive produced her new album.
