Mandy Moore finally addresses 'very upsetting' friend group drama with Ashley Tisdale

Raechal ShewfeltMon, May 18, 2026 at 10:48 PM UTC

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Mandy Moore and Ashley Tisdale
Credit: TheStewartofNY/WireImage; Charles Sykes/Bravo via GettyKey Points -

Mandy Moore says it was "wild" to read Ashley Tisdale French's essay about a "toxic" mom group she had left.

When the essay was published, the internet was quick to identify that Tisdale French had previously spent time with a group that included Moore, Hilary Duff, and Meghan Trainor.

Duff previously said she found the piece "really sad."

Mandy Moore is getting — like the name of her debut album — so real.

The This Is Us actress explained her reaction to reading the essay that Ashley Tisdale French wrote about her "toxic" mom group in January in The Cut. In it, the former High School Musical star said she had been excluded from gatherings and began to feel as if she were dealing with the kind of drama teens face.

Internet photos showed that Tisdale French had spent time with a group of women including Moore, Hilary Duff, and Meghan Trainor.

"It's wild to have anybody talk about your life and I know Hilary has sort of mentioned this too," Moore told Andy Cohen on SiriusXM’s Andy Cohen Live. "It's like we both have grown up in this business and had people dissect who we are and the choices we make and all of that, but this was something altogether different and decidedly way more upsetting."

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Moore noted that the idea her colleague shared "just cuts to the core."

She added, "I think the most important thing in my life is being a kind person and 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," Moore said. "So I'd say that was the biggest takeaway was sort of the shock of like, 'Wow.'"

Now 42, Moore is a mother of three children — Gus, 5; Ozzie, 3; and Lou, 1 — whom she shares with husband Taylor Goldsmith.

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The "All Good Things" singer said that she would have addressed the problem differently.

"I'm someone who is really scared by confrontation, but also when it's important, like I am a huge proponent and like having a conversation if my feelings are hurt or there's something I need to get off my chest face-to-face," Moore said. "You know, 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 and I think the biggest takeaway from that whole ridiculous debacle of like, 'Wow, so it's a real slow news day,' is that I feel like it just sort of it 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, Moore has found herself part of a helpful community.

Hilary Duff and Mandy Moore
Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty

"I've actually been so surprised by the meaningful relationships I found with other moms and other parents just in general," Moore said. "That has always been my takeaway, and you need that. You need community. You need to find that support wherever you can get it. You need to be able to talk about all of that."

Duff had been "taken aback" by the essay, which she found "really sad," she said on the Call Her Daddy podcast in February.

"I think I just was like, 'Whoa,'" Duff said. "It sucks to read something that's not true, and it sucks on behalf of, like, six women and all of their lives.”

Entertainment Weekly has reached out to Tisdale French's rep.

See the full conversation above.

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