Mandy Moore is speaking out on the mom group drama raised in Ashley Tisdale's now-viral essay.

In a new interview with Andy Cohen, the This Is Us star addressed the "upsetting" claims Tisdale made in her January 2026 essay for The Cut in which she described "breaking up" with her "toxic mom group," per People. Though the High School Musical alum didn't name her former friends, many online commenters speculated that the group included Moore, Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor and more.

"It's wild to have anybody talk about your life, and I know Hilary has sort of mentioned this too. It's like we both have grown up in this business and had people dissect who we are and the choices we make and all of that, but this was something altogether different and decidedly way more upsetting," the mom of three said. "It just cuts to the core."

She continued, "The most important thing in my life is being a kind person and that legacy of kindness and anyone even insinuating that that might not be the case, and with the company that I choose to keep, is very upsetting. I'd say that was the biggest takeaway, sort of the shock or like, 'Wow.'"

The A Walk to Remember actress admitted that while she is "really scared by confrontation," she is a "huge proponent" of communication and being honest about hurt feelings or the things that need to be said to clear the air.

"It's not always like the most comfortable of situations," she said, "but I think that's where I sort of differed in feeling like I wouldn't have handled the situation this way."

Moore explained that she feels the "whole ridiculous debacle ... perpetuates this silly trope that women can't be supportive of one another and that we're inherently petty" and trying to "one-up each other" when she has been met with the complete opposite since becoming a parent.

"I've actually been so surprised by the meaningful relationships I found with other moms and other parents just in general," she said. "That has always been my takeaway, and you need that. You need community. You need to find that support wherever you can get it. You need to be able to talk about all of that."

Tanya Rad

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