Meghan Trainor, Mandy Moore Speak Out Amid Ashley Tisdale's "Toxic" Mom Group Debacle

If the point was to prove that Ashley Tisdale was wrong when she compared her former mom group to a high school clique, her critics may have missed the mark.

The High School Musical alum first wrote about distancing herself from a coterie of fellow mothers in December, explaining in an entry on her site By Ashley French that she didn't think the group had turned toxic "because the moms themselves are toxic people, but because the dynamic shifts into an ugly place with mean-girl behavior." 

The post, titled "You're Allowed to Leave Your Mom Group," didn't call out any alleged Regina George types by name. Nor did her follow-up on the subject that was published on The Cut Jan. 1, "Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group."

But because Tisdale—who shares daughters Jupiter, 5, and Emerson, 20 months, with husband David French—had been seen in photos hanging out with fellow famous moms Mandy Moore, Hilary Duff and Meghan Trainor, online sleuths were quick to conclude that they played a role in her split from the group.

Or at least it was assumed they were members of this "village of moms" who'd gone from "lifeline to landmine," as Tisdale described the situation, that made her feel shunned.

But just when it seemed as if this was going to be a comments-section-only pile-up, Duff's husband, Matthew Koma, entered the fray.

Koma—who shares daughters Banks, 7, Mae, 5, and Townes, 2, with Duff, and is stepdad to her 14-year-old son Luca with ex Mike Comrie—created a fake magazine cover he posted to Instagram Stories Jan. 6, writing, “Read my new interview with @thecut.”

The ersatz cover's title story: “When You’re The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers: A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father’s Eyes.”

E! News has reached out to everyone involved for comment and has not heard back.

The following day, Moore—who shares Gus Harrison, 5, Ozzie Bennett, 3, and Louise Everett, 20 months, with husband Taylor Goldsmith—had something much more poignant on her mind than mom group gossip.

After Koma applauded her performance at a concert benefiting victims of the 2025 Eaton Fire, she wrote on Instagram Stories Jan. 7, "This feels incredibly fitting as @matthewkoma happens to be one [of] the most talented and generous humans I’m lucky to know. He literally gave my family a place to stay one year ago today when we evacuated."

And asked how he felt about Tisdale's essay, he offered, "I don’t really know. I hope she’s okay, though.”

Trainor noted she was especially confused because it's been a while since she hung out with the group.

 "It was really hard for a lot of moms, and I felt so bad," she told Us Weekly in April. "I felt bad for Ashley, that she was ever that sad. I think it was just a lot of miscommunication and confusion. I don’t really know what happened, but I wish them all the best. I texted all of them. Ashley texted me, '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.'"

Meanwhile, plenty of commenters have rallied around Tisdale, many of them happy to assume she was snubbed by the celebrities in question. (Incidentally, mom of two Haylie Duff liked an Instagram post promoting Tisdale's essay about leaving the group.)

But her supporters also include people who could relate to the dynamic she described, from both sides, having been part of groups that once provided community, support and uplift but later devolved into just another social obligation with its own set of rules and a hierarchy that somehow forms when other members aren't looking.

"I could sense a growing distance between me and the other members of the group, who seemed to not even care that I wasn't around much," Tisdale wrote for The Cut. "When everyone else attended a birthday dinner together, I was met with excuses as to why I hadn't been invited."