Mandy Moore recently addressed comments made by her former mom group colleague, Ashley Tisdale French, during an interview.
During a conversation with Andy Cohen on Monday for SiriusXM’s Radio Andy, Moore, 42, admitted that she found Tisdale French’s essay about the ‘toxic’ mom group that had allegedly given her the cold shoulder to be ‘very upsetting.’
“It’s quite unsettling when people discuss your personal life,” Moore remarked, alluding to fellow celebrity mom Hilary Duff, who has also spoken about similar experiences. “We’ve both grown up in the spotlight, with our lives under constant scrutiny and our decisions analyzed. However, this situation feels entirely different and significantly more distressing. It really hits home.”
The Daily Mail has sought a response from Tisdale French’s representatives regarding the matter.
Moore’s comments come shortly after Tisdale French, 40, celebrated a significant financial milestone when her haircare brand reportedly surpassed $250 million in sales as of April.
Back in January, Tisdale penned an essay for The Cut, sharing her experience with a group of new mothers who allegedly began excluding her from gatherings and events.
Mandy Moore, 42, admitted that she found Tisdale French’s essay about the ‘toxic’ mom group that had allegedly given her the cold shoulder to be ‘very upsetting’ during a conversation on Monday with Andy Cohen; pictured May 12 in NYC
In January, Tisdale published an essay in The Cut about a friend group of new mothers she had belonged to that allegedly began to give her the cold shoulder and stopped inviting her to events, leading her to break up with them; pictured in May 2025 in NYC
Fans and observers have theorized that Tisdale French was referring to a group of mothers that includes Moore, Hilary Duff and Meghan Trainor, based on past social media posts
Fans and observers have speculated that the group Tisdale French mentioned might include Moore, Duff, and Meghan Trainor, based on past social media interactions. However, representatives for Tisdale French have consistently denied any specific claims about the women involved.
Tisdale French revealed in her essay that she eventually severed ties with the unnamed group of women by sending a group text reading, ‘This is too high school for me and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.’
While Moore has previously thrown her support behind Duff and her husband, Matthew Koma, after they spoke out about the essay, her latest statement seems to confirm that she is part of the mothers’ group that inspired the essay.
Moore told Cohen that ‘The most important thing in my life is being a kind person and like that legacy of kindness, and anyone even insinuating that that might not be the case, and with the company that I choose to keep is very upsetting.
‘I’d say that was the biggest takeaway, sort of the shock of like, “Wow,”‘ she added.
Moore admitted that it could be difficult to address interpersonal differences, and she admitted that she is ‘really scared by confrontation.’
However, she also said she’s a ‘huge proponent’ of having direct communication when her ‘feelings are hurt.’
‘It’s not always like the most comfortable of situations, but I think that’s where I sort of differed in feeling like I wouldn’t have handled the situation this way,’ Moore continued.
Moore told Cohen that ‘The most important thing in my life is being a kind person and like that legacy of kindness, and anyone even insinuating that that might not be the case, and with the company that I choose to keep is very upsetting’; seen Monday in NYC
Moore added that she was a ‘huge proponent’ of direct communication when her feelings are hurt, even though she admitted she’s ‘really scared by confrontation’; Tisdale French and husband Christopher French are pictured with daughter Jupiter, now five
She said her ‘biggest takeaway from that whole ridiculous debacle’ was that Tisdale French’s essay ‘sort of perpetuates this silly trope that women can’t be supportive of one another, and that we’re inherently petty and that we’re inherently out to one-up each other, and I have not felt that one iota since becoming a parent.’
Instead, the Candy singer claimed she had been ‘surprised by the meaningful relationships I found with other moms and other parents,’ adding that it is important to find ‘community’ and ‘support wherever you can get it.’
‘You need to be able to talk about all of that,’ Moore said.
She shares two sons and a daughter with her husband, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith: August ‘Gus’ Harrison, five; Oscar ‘Ozzie’ Bennett Goldsmith, three; and 20-month-old Louise ‘Lou’ Everett Goldsmith.
Moore and Goldsmith began dating in 2015, and they got engaged two years later, before tying the knot in November 2018 in Los Angeles.
Moore has a special connection to fellow mom-group member Hilary Duff that was forged after her home was destroyed in the devastating LA Fires in January 2025.
While she and Goldsmith were without a home, Duff shared her mansion with Moore’s family until they could find more stable accommodations.
Moore’s fullest response to the mom group drama follows Duff’s admission in February on the Call Her Daddy podcast that she felt ‘used’ after Tisdale French’s essay was published.
Moore shares two sons and a daughter with her husband, Dawes frontman Taylor Goldsmith: August ‘Gus’ Harrison, five; Oscar ‘Ozzie’ Bennett Goldsmith, three; and 17-month-old Louise ‘Lou’ Everett Goldsmith; Moore and Goldsmith pictured in 2024 in Santa Monica, Calif.
In February, Hilary Duff said on the Call Her Daddy podcast that she felt ‘used’ after Tisdale French’s essay was published
‘I honestly felt really sad,’ she said of the drama. ‘I was, like, pretty, pretty taken aback and felt just, like, sad.’
Duff, 38, said that being a mother had connected her to new friends, rather than shrinking her social circle, and she claimed to have significant friendships within multiple groups of mothers.
‘I have so many groups of friends. I’m so lucky,’ she said. ‘Motherhood has brought on, like, I have my core group of friends who have been my ride-or-dies for 10 to 20 years, and I have tons of different groups of mom friends because I have four kids.
‘So I think I just was like, “Whoa.” It sucks to read something that’s, like, not true,’ Duff continued. ‘And it sucks on behalf of, like, six women in all of their lives.’
When host Alex Cooper noted that Tisdale French had declined to name any of the allegedly catty members of the mom group, Duff shot back, ‘I don’t really think people had to connect very many dots.’
In an earlier conversation with the Los Angeles Times, Duff addressed how she reacted to speculation brought on by Tisdale French’s essay.
‘It’s hard because you’re like, “Wait, whoa, that person kind of got it right,” and “Whoa, that person doesn’t know what they’re talking about,” she said, recalling a rumor that other moms and even teachers allegedly disliked her.
‘I was like, “First of all… the women at school are lovely and I’m obsessed with all of them,”‘ Duff added.
It was Duff’s husband, the musician and producer Matthew Koma, who most directly appeared to confirm that Tisdale French had been writing about Duff and the other celebrities she had previously posed with on social media; (Duff and Koma in December)
Duff shares son Luca Cruz Comrie, 13, with ex-husband Mike Comrie, and daughters Banks Violet, 7, Mae James, 4, and Townes Meadow, 1, with Koma
Meghan Trainor revealed that she ‘felt bad’ for Tisdale French in a conversation with Us Weekly from April; pictured in August 2025
It was Duff’s husband, the musician and producer Matthew Koma, who most directly appeared to confirm that Tisdale French had been writing about Duff and the other celebrities she had previously posed with on social media.
Shortly after the essay was published, Koma shared a version of The Cut’s cover photo of Tisdale French, but he had photoshopped his own face over the Disney Channel star’s visage and added a new headline: ‘When You’re The Most Self-Obsessed Tone-Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers.’
In a smaller subheading, he joked, ‘A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father’s Eye.’
Meghan Trainor, who was also alleged to be part of the group of mothers that Tisdale French wrote about, offered a more measured response to the drama while speaking to Us Weekly in April.
‘I felt bad for Ashley,’ she said. ‘I felt bad that she was ever that sad, and I think it was just a lot of miscommunication and confusion. I don’t know what happened, but I wish them all the best.’
Trainor also said that the former High School Musical star had apologized to her after the uproar.
‘Ashley texted me like, “I’m sorry your name got dragged in.” And I was like, “It’s all right, girl. The world’s a silly, crazy place, and they just want something to talk about,”‘ she said
Trainor also said she hadn’t seen Tisdale or other members of her moms group in some time.
The All About That Bass singer joked that she was such a ‘bad mom friend’ because the last time she saw members of the friend group was ‘a year ago,’ which, ironically, was when she took them out to dinner as an apology for being an absent friend.
