Ashley Tisdale's 'toxic mom group' feud escalates as husband responds to backlash


Ashley Tisdale married composer and musician Christopher French in 2014, and shares daughters Jupiter and Emerson with him


ashley tisdale christopher french walking nyc© GC Images
Katie Fitzpatrick
Katie FitzpatrickJunior Writer
20 hours ago
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Ashley Tisdale's "toxic mom group" essay for The Cut has exploded across the internet, causing readers to speculate as to whom she was referring to in the piece. The High School Musical alum was previously a member of a mother's group that included stars like Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor, yet left due to the group's alleged "toxic" behavior.

Following backlash from Hilary's husband, Matthew Koma, on Tuesday, Ashley's husband has responded to the drama with his own thoughts on the matter. Christopher French, a composer and musician, reshared an Instagram post from artist Tyler Spangler on Wednesday that read: "It's your choice whether or not to engage."

christopher french ashley tisdale hugging© Getty Images for Feeding America
Christopher came to his wife's defence online

He also shared a quote credited to Cory Allen that said: "Underrated life skill: pausing to decide if it's worth your energy." It is unclear if the posts were directed at Matthew, who just a day prior shared a spoof image of his face superimposed over Ashley's from her The Cut cover.

In the original photo, Ashley sat on a lounge with one leg crossed over the other and her hand on her face.

Learn more about Hilary and Matthew below...

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Matthew then photoshopped a fake headline that read: "When You're The Most Self-Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers," alongside the subheading: "A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father's Eyes."

"Read my new interview with @TheCut," he captioned the post. The musician shares kids Banks, seven, Mae, four and Townes, one, with Hilary, and she also shares 13-year-old Luca with her ex-husband, Mike Comrie.

matthew koma the cut spoof© Instagram
Matthew shared the spoof photo in response to Ashley's essay

Ashley published her essay, 'Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group', on January 1, and detailed her decision to leave her mother's group as they continued to leave her out of events and meet-ups. "I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me," she wrote.

"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, who seemed to not even care that I wasn't around much."

Hilary Duff, Ashley Tisdale, Meghan Trainor, and their mom friends© Instagram
Ashley, Hilary, Mandy and Meghan were part of the mother's group

"To be clear, I have never considered the moms to be bad people (maybe one). But I do think our group dynamic stopped being healthy and positive – for me anyway," she said.  

The 40-year-old's representative later clarified to TMZ that she was not referring to Hilary, Mandy or Meghan when she wrote about the group's "toxic" behavior, yet she did unfollow them prior to the essay's publication.

Ashley tisdale and Christopher french kiss© FilmMagic
Ashley and Christopher married in 2014

Ashley and Christopher have been married since 2014, and share two daughters: Jupiter, four, and Emerson, one. The actress opened up about their decision to have kids several years into their marriage, sharing that it allowed them to know each other more deeply.

"We definitely had a really good foundation of years to just learn about each other before having kids, which I think is so important because just kids change everything," she told People.

photo of ashley tisdale and family at disneyland© Disneyland Resort via Getty Imag
The couple share daughters Jupiter and Emerson

"One of the things I noticed is that it brings out the flaws more in each other, the flaws that you've always known about your person. You're like, 'Oh, it's fine.' But then when you have kids, it is, 'Oh my God.' It bothers you more for some reason."

"The best thing is that me and Chris, I think, found each other at the right time," she concluded.

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