Tisdale quits ‘toxic’ celebrity mom group over bullying

Ashley Tisdale French has opened up about her decision to leave a friend group made up of other moms after the dynamic became "toxic" and full of "mean girl behaviour." However, her story has raised speculation due to the fact that the Disney Channel alum, 40, had previously spoken about being in a mom group with other stars including Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor. Tisdale has not confirmed who was in the mom group and did not immediately return The Independent's request for comment.

The mom of two recently wrote on her blog, By Ashley French, about her decision to join a "village of moms" to help her connect with a community after her first daughter, Jupiter, was born in 2021. But after the women weathered the storms of motherhood together with advice, playdates, and supportive group messages, Tisdale said the dynamic took a turn for the worse.

"Mom groups can turn toxic," Tisdale warned in her blog post. "Not because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior. I know this from personal experience." She continued, "In my mom group, I started to notice that certain people would get talked about when they weren't present, and not in a positive way. I realised that there were group text chains that didn't include everyone, which led to cliques forming within the larger group. And after the third or fourth time of seeing social media photos of everyone else at a hangout that I didn't get invited to, it felt like I wasn't really part of the group after all."

The Phineas and Ferb star went on to say that after feeling left out, she eventually separated herself from the group, and encouraged anyone feeling the same way to leave their situation.

"This is what I've figured out after getting some perspective. If a mom group consistently leaves you feeling hurt, drained, or left out, it's not the mom group for you. (Even if it used to be!)" she said, adding that creating boundaries and stepping away from hurtful friendships also sets a good example for children. The High School Musical actor, who shares her son and daughter with her husband Christopher French, lives in Los Angeles, which is where Duff started the mom group with her, Moore, Trainor, and other mothers in the area, according to an interview Moore did in 2022.

Moore told InStyle at the time: "And so, we had babies at the same time and (Duff), being the super-mom that she is, formed a cool mom club.

"Somehow, I got invited into it and it's the best. I've made so many wonderful friends. We all just gathered earlier this week and had dinner and we have baby classes together and it's incredible. It's so much fun. I'm very, very grateful to have those resources and just incredible women to be able to lean on. We're all kind of going through this chapter of our lives together."

Aside from family outings and baby music classes, Instagram posts from 2022 showed members of the mom group went on a trip to a resort together without Moore, who was about to welcome her second baby. Trainor captioned the post, "I have mom friends and I love them." In a post that has since been deleted, Tisdale wrote at the time: "Moms weekend away! I love being surrounded by these ladies. What an amazing group of women to journey through this mom-hood together! So grateful for this trip." Tisdale gave a shout out to her mom friends as recently as January of this year, when she thanked Moore, Duff, Trainor, and others for supporting her during the Los Angeles wildfires.

"The human connection is not lost. Shout out to the mom group that's there in the highs and lows," she wrote at the time. Tisdale no longer follows Moore on Instagram. According to social media posts in recent months, Tisdale has tapered off from spending time with the group. Moore and Duff went on a trip together last month with a group of other moms, but neither Tisdale or Trainor were in attendance.

Carsen Holaday, The Independent