February 25, 2026
Hilary Duff is opening up about how Ashley Tisdale’s viral essay left her feeling blindsided — and a little bit "used."
Appearing on the February 25 episode of Call Her Daddy, the singer and actress addressed the fallout surrounding Tisdale’s January piece, “Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group,” and admitted the headlines hit closer to home than she expected — especially given the timing.
The mother of four, who just released her first album in a decade and is gearing up for a world tour, said the essay “came at the craziest time where I was like, the timing felt not great and I felt used.”
Sharing her initial reaction, Duff, 38, admitted, “I felt really sad. I honestly felt really sad. I was, like, pretty, pretty taken aback and felt just, like, sad.”
Though Tisdale, 40, did not name anyone in the article, online speculation quickly pointed to her circle of famous mom friends, including Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor.
Duff made it clear she felt the narrative didn’t reflect reality. “So I think I just was like, ‘Woah,’” she said. “It sucks to read something that's, like, not true. And it sucks on behalf of, like, six women in all of their lives.”