Actress and singer says she quit her ‘toxic mom group’

Singer and actress Ashley Tisdale has said she was “brought to tears” by being a member of a “toxic mom group”, which she ultimately decided to leave.

The American actress rose to fame as a child star on the Disney Channel and later appeared in the High School Musical films as Sharpay Evans.

The 40-year-old has previously spoken about the benefits of having the support of a “mommy village” following the birth of her first daughter in 2021.

But she said the changing dynamics of the group, which reportedly included several other celebrities, ended up reminding her of high school cliques and left her “frozen” at a vulnerable moment.

The star, who has two young daughters with husband Christopher French, made the comments in an article for The Cut, adapted from her own blog post on the subject.

She said the response to her blog about how “mom groups can become toxic” had made her phone “blow up like no other”, with messages from women who had experienced similar things.

In her case, the singer said she noticed some mothers in the group began socializing without her and felt an “increasing distance” from them at events they attended together.

“I was starting to feel left out of the group,” she said, “noticing every time they seemed to exclude me.”

Tisdale said it reminded her of an earlier stage in the group’s friendship, when she “spotted hints of a strange dynamic” involving “another mom who often wasn’t included.”

“It seemed like this group had a habit of leaving someone out,” Tisdale mused. “And that someone had become me.”

She added that the interactions “took me back to an unpleasant but familiar feeling that I thought I left behind years ago” and that she may not be “cool enough.”

Tisdale ultimately decided to cut ties with the group and said she sent a message to the other members explaining, “It’s too high school for me and I don’t want to be in it anymore.”

She said her message “didn’t really go down well” but noted that some mothers then tried to “smooth things over”.

She added: “To be clear, I’ve never seen moms as bad people (maybe one) but I think our group dynamic has stopped being healthy and positive – for me anyway.”

The actress discouraged readers from trying to guess exactly who she was referring to in the post, adding: “What you think is true isn’t even close.”

She added that feedback she has gotten from other women on the subject has shown that “I am far from the only mother who has been brought to tears by members of a group that is supposed to uplift everyone.”

As a singer, Tisdale has released three studio albums, while her acting credits also include the Scary Movie and Bring It On franchises.