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When Ashley Tisdale, now known as Ashley French, penned a piece about the drama within her circle of mom friends, speculation quickly arose that she was alluding to Mandy Moore and Hilary Duff. French’s connection to both actresses through a mutual friend group fueled these theories. Adding fire to the rumors, Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, shared a humorous image poking fun at the article, which Moore later acknowledged with a compliment directed at Koma.
Hilary Duff’s husband shaded Ashley Tisdale after she published an essay
In her essay for The Cut, French described her experience departing from what she dubbed a “toxic mom group.” While she labeled these women as “mean girls,” she refrained from naming anyone directly. Nevertheless, the piece sparked conjecture that she might be referring to a circle including Moore, Duff, and Megan Trainor.
A representative for French dismissed these claims, but Koma’s actions seemed to reignite the gossip. He posted a photo on his Instagram Stories mimicking French’s pose from the article’s accompanying image. The satirical headline in his post read: “When You’re the Most Self-Obsessed Tone Deaf Person on Earth, Other Moms Tend to Shift Focus to Their Actual Toddlers.”
“Check out my latest interview with @thecut,” Koma jestingly captioned the post.
In a related event, on January 7th, Koma performed at “A Concert for Altadena,” a charity event benefiting victims of the 2025 California wildfires. Moore, whose home was lost to the fires, sought refuge with Duff and Koma in the aftermath.
Mandy Moore showed love for Hilary Duff’s husband
On Wednesday, Jan. 7, Koma performed at “A Concert for Altadena,” a benefit for those impacted by the California wildfires in 2025. Moore’s home burned down in the fires, and she had to stay with Duff and Koma for a time.
“@matthewkoma happens to be one of the most talented and generous humans I’m lucky to know,” she wrote over a video shared to her Instagram Story. “He literally gave my family a place to stay one year ago today when we evacuated. Love you, MB!!”
Notably, French’s response to the wildfires was allegedly part of the reason for the rift in the friend group.
“It wasn’t an overnight thing. Her politics don’t align with a lot of the group members, which drove a wedge between them,” the source told the U.S. Sun. “But the big straw that broke the camel’s back was how Ashley responded to the group about the LA wildfires last year. Multiple members of the group were impacted, some worse than others, and Ashley hardly checked in.”
Mandy Moore said Hilary Duff founded the friend group
Moore and Duff have known each other for years, and they grew close after both having children.
“Hilary is the coolest and she is a super-mom. She and Matt have become really close friends with my husband and I,” she told InStyle in 2022. “But they have a kid who’s six weeks younger than Gus. And so, we had babies at the same time and she, being the super-mom that she is, formed a cool mom club.”
Moore and Duff had similar career trajectories. They both rose to fame in their teens with music and acting careers, and have continued to act into adulthood.
