Ashley Tisdale French became close friends with Haylie Duff after walking away from her allegedly “toxic” mom group.
“Ashley and Haylie have developed a really close friendship and have bonded recently,” a source exclusively tells Us Weekly, adding that Tisdale French, 40, has leaned on Duff, 41, after navigating the fallout from leaving her friend group.
Tisdale French was part of a star-studded mom squad that also included Mandy Moore, Meghan Trainor and Haylie’s sister, Hilary Duff, beginning in 2021. Tisdale French made waves in January when she published a bombshell essay in The Cut, claiming that the group was “toxic.”
“I remember being left out of a couple of group hangs, and I knew about them because Instagram made sure it fed me every single photo and Instagram Story,” Tisdale French wrote in her essay, without naming her former pals. “I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me. … I told myself it was all in my head, and it wasn’t a big deal. And yet, I could sense a growing distance between me and the other members of the group.”
Neither Moore, 41, nor Hilary, 38, nor other members of their famous circle publicly addressed Tisdale French’s comments. As for the High School Musical actress, the insider tells Us that Haylie has “brought comfort” to help understand the drama.
“Their kids have had play dates,” the source says. “They have kept a close friendship.”
Haylie shares children Lulu, 10, and Ryan, 7, with her longtime partner, Matt Rosenberg, while Tisdale French and husband Christopher French are parents of daughters Jupiter, 4, and Emerson, 17 months.
While neither Haylie nor Tisdale French have publicly detailed their bond, the insider further reveals that they “have been friends for many years.”
“They met through the industry and Haylie actually bought Ashley’s house a decade ago,” the source explains to Us. “Their bond strengthened even more during the mom group drama. Ashley reached out to Haylie for advice, and Haylie has really been there for her through it all. They have a lot of common ground.”
Haylie has also been estranged from sister Hilary, with the insider noting that they “don’t speak at all.” The sibling drama even inspired the song “We Don’t Talk” on Hilary’s new album, Luck … Or Something.
“The most lonely part of my existence is not having my sister in my life at the moment,” Hilary tearfully said in a CBS Mornings interview on Friday, February 20. “[I] really struggled with including that on the record. As a person that exists in the world without my, like, other half, so many people are having that experience. A lot of conversations I have with people are, like, ‘Yeah, me too.’”
The former Lizzie McGuire child star, however, wasn’t sure whether Haylie planned to listen to her album.
“I don’t think that would help. I think I have to just exist as a person on my own and do what I want to do,” Hilary acknowledged. “I hope that for everyone, that is where I’m sitting. You have to do what you want to do and you have to do what feels good for you. It’s taken me a lot of time to get there and to live that way and to not care what the noise is going to be around it and just be me.”
