Actor Ashley Tisdale has responded to mounting speculation after she called out a 'toxic' mom group.
In an essay for The Cut, published on January 1, Tisdale explained that she had 'broken up with my toxic mom group' after feeling like she was in high school again.
Tisdale claimed that after being left out of gatherings she began to feel as though the group dynamic had 'stopped being positive'.
She explained that she first noticed it after spotting photos on Instagram.
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"Another time, at one of the mom’s dinner parties, I realized where I sat with her — which was at the end of the table, far from the rest of the women," she wrote.
"I was starting to feel frozen out of the group, noticing every way that they seemed to exclude me. At first, I tried not to take things personally. It’s not like people aren’t allowed to get together without me — and maybe there were perfectly good reasons that I hadn’t been invited. We were all busy, life was hectic. I told myself it was all in my head and it wasn’t a big deal."
She added: "It took me back to an unpleasant but familiar feeling I thought I’d left behind years ago.
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"Here I was sitting alone one night after getting my daughter to bed, thinking, Maybe I’m not cool enough? All of a sudden, I was in high school again, feeling totally lost as to what I was doing 'wrong' to be left out."
Tisdale explained she cut things off over message, writing: "It didn’t exactly go over well. Some of the others tried to smooth things over. One sent flowers, then ignored me when I thanked her for them. Another tried to convince me that everyone assumed I’d been invited to gatherings and just hadn’t shown up. Then why didn’t anyone ever ask where I was?, I wondered.
"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."
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While Tisdale didn't name anyone in the article, the Daily Mail reported that the actress had unfollowed Hilary Duff and Mandy Moore on social media, which has led to speculation by fans.
However, this has now been debunked by TMZ, who explained that a rep for Tisdale has made it clear that the essay wasn't about Duff or Moore, or Meghan Trainor, which has also been reported.
LADbible Group has reached out to Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore and Ashley Tisdale for comment.
Lucy Devine