- - Mandy Moore Steps Out in Public Appearance Following Ashley Tisdale's Viral Mom Group Essay

Kayla GrantJanuary 20, 2026 at 3:22 AM

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Mandy Moore stepped out for a public appearance following Ashley Tisdale's viral mom group essay

The actress appeared alongside her former costars Sterling K. Brown and Chris Sullivan for a live recording of their This Was Us podcast, which is a rewatch podcast for the hit Dan Fogelman show

Moore is a mom to three children: Gus, Ozzie and Lou

Mandy Moore stepped out for a public appearance following Ashley Tisdale French's viral mom group essay.

The This Is Us actress, 41, made an appearance after the High School Musical alum's, 40, viral essay about leaving her "toxic" mom friend group. Tisdale first opened up about the topic in a candid blog post titled “You’re Allowed to Leave Your Mom Group," which was later shared in a now-viral personal essay for The Cut.

Moore, who shares her three children, Gus, Ozzie and Lou, with her husband Taylor Goldsmith, stepped out alongside her former costars Sterling K. Brown and Chris Sullivan for a live recording of their This Was Us podcast, which is a rewatch podcast for the hit Dan Fogelman show. In addition to the recording of the episode, Moore performed two songs.

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Mandy Moore and her family

In her piece, Tisdale French detailed her decision to step away from a mom group that she said had become emotionally unhealthy, writing that “friendships, like all relationships, have seasons.”

While she did not name the women from her former friend group in her essay, fans quickly zeroed in on past photos showing her spending time with a group that included Hilary Duff, food influencer Gaby Dalkin, Meghan Trainor, Mandy Moore and others.

The essay sparked public discussion — and some backlash — including social media reactions from Meghan Trainor and Matthew Koma, Hilary Duff’s husband, both of whom are alleged to have been part of the same circle.

After the essay went viral, Koma, 38, posted a photo of himself photoshopped onto Tisdale's body. In the photo, he is seen sitting on a couch next to a houseplant, while wearing an all-black outfit paired with rose-tinted lensed sunglasses on his Instagram Story on Tuesday, Jan. 6.

Koma added The Cut's logo and a fictional headline to the photo, which read "When You're The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers," with a sub-headline that read, "A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father's Eyes."

"Read my new interview with @TheCut," Koma captioned the Instagram Story post.

Trainor has spoken out several times, and continues to claim that she was not involved in any drama. Trainor, 32, shared a TikTok video on Monday, Jan. 12, in which she lip-synced to a popular scene from season 5 of Stranger Things, where Holly Wheeler (Nell Fisher) attempts to convince a group of kids that their imaginary friend, Mr. Whatsit, is truly a monster. "Come on you have to believe me! Please, you have to believe me, you have to believe me," the audio said.

"Me still trying to convince everyone I'm not involved in the mom group drama," the "Still Don't Care" singer wrote on the video.

"I swear i'm innocent," Trainor added in the caption.

On Jan. 7, sources around Ashley Tisdale and her former mom group shed some light on their now-viral falling-out.

“It was a misalignment of values that Ashley decided to make public," a source close to the group tells PEOPLE exclusively. "Friends naturally drift apart. It didn’t warrant a dramatic breakup text."

A second source says Tisdale French had been feeling a "disconnect" with the group in the months before she left.

"Ashley put this out there because [she wants people to know] toxic behavior is not acceptable," says the source, adding that "this is blowing up in the craziest way."

Hilary Duff/Instagram

Ashley Tisdale, Hilary Duff and more

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Shortly after the story was published on The Cut, Tisdale French's husband Christopher French commented under The Cut's Instagram post, noting how "proud" he was of her for sharing her story. "I’m so proud of you 💘" he wrote.

On Wednesday, Jan. 7, amid the drama from the viral essay, he also shared a cryptic post on his Instagram Stories. The post, which was a reshared text image from @heycoryallen, shared an "underrated life skill."

"Underrated life skill: Pausing to decide if it's worth your energy," the picture read.

on People

Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Entertainment”