Actress and singer Mandy Moore has spoken candidly about the subtle sense of loss that can accompany evolving friendships, a topic brought into sharp focus by the ongoing controversy surrounding Ashley Tisdale's recent essay about a 'toxic mom group'.
The Shifting Landscape of Friendship After Motherhood
During an appearance on Wednesday's episode of the podcast Conversations With Cam, the 41-year-old This Is Us star reflected on how becoming a parent has fundamentally altered her closest relationships. Moore, who shares sons August, 4, and Oscar, 3, and daughter Louise, 15 months, with husband Taylor Goldsmith, explained she now naturally gravitates towards other parents at the same life stage.
'I have friends who have kids that are older, and I have found that the people I'm closest with in my life right now are people who are at the same chapter of their lives as parents. Like, we have kids the same age,' she told host Cameron Rogers. She admitted to experiencing a form of mourning, not for the loss of those friendships, but for how they have inevitably changed.
Rogers reassured her such shifts are common, stating parents often remain closest to those navigating identical milestones. Moore conceded the changes still 'surprised' her, noting some relationships no longer function as her immediate support system for the minute details of parenting.
Weighing In on the 'Toxic Mom Group' Backlash
Moore's introspective comments arrive just days after she appeared to engage with the backlash surrounding Ashley Tisdale's viral essay for The Cut, titled 'Breaking Up With My Toxic Mom Group'. In the piece, Tisdale, who shares daughter Jupiter, 5, and son Emerson, 16 months with husband Christopher French, detailed feeling excluded and frozen out during her postpartum period.
While Tisdale named no names, speculation was rife that her once-tight-knit group included Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor, especially after Tisdale unfollowed Moore and Duff on Instagram. The situation escalated when Matthew Koma, Hilary Duff's husband, publicly slammed Tisdale's essay as 'self obsessed' and 'tone deaf'.
Moore showed support for Koma last week by resharing his Instagram Story, which featured her performing her hit song Candy. She captioned it, 'This feels incredibly fitting as @matthewkoma happens to be one [of] the most talented and generous humans I'm lucky to know,' and revealed the couple had opened their home to her family during the Pacific Palisades fires evacuation.
A Friendship Circle Under the Microscope
The public dissection of these Hollywood friendships intensified further when Hilary Duff's sister, Haylie Duff, was seen liking a post promoting Tisdale's essay, fuelling existing rumours of tension. In her essay, Tisdale wrote of noticing she was no longer invited to gatherings she later saw on social media, a feeling she described as 'unpleasant but familiar'.
Despite the rumoured rift, Moore and Hilary Duff appear to remain close, often speaking openly about their bond and recently sharing photos from a festive holiday outing with their children. The episode highlights the complex, often painful, recalibration of social circles that many parents experience, albeit rarely under such a glaring public spotlight.
