Mandy Moore is navigating a shifting landscape of friendships. Two weeks after Ashley Tisdale penned a candid essay for The Cut about leaving her "toxic" group of mom friends, the This is Us actress opened up about how some of her relationships have transformed since becoming a parent.
"Do you feel like you've witnessed a friendship taking a different path?" Mandy asked host Cameron Rogers during the Jan. 14 episode of the Conversations With Cam Podcast. "I have friends who have older kids, and I've noticed that the people I'm closest with now are those who are in the same stage of life as parents."
The 41-year-old, who shares children August (4), Oscar (3), and Louise (16 months) with husband Taylor Goldsmith, also noted how the evolving dynamics among her mom friends have been challenging for her.
"We have kids the same age, and I've had to sort of mourn in a way," she explained. "Not the loss of those friendships, but how they've changed."
Mandy's comments come just weeks after Ashley—who shares children Jupiter (4) and Emerson (16 months) with husband Christopher French—announced her reasons for leaving her exclusive group of fellow moms. Although Ashley didn't name anyone specifically, she previously shared glimpses of quality time with fellow moms like Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor, and Mandy. Although Meghan has since denied her role in the ongoing drama, Mandy's recent comments echo Ashley's, who claimed the friend group came to be due to the famous moms' shared experience of having "pandemic babies."
"I think the origin story is all about having pandemic babies," Mandy explained of how her friend group got started. "Hilary Duff is a very dear friend of mine. She and her husband Matt [Koma] are very close with me and Taylor, my husband."
Similar to Ashley's previous statement that an unnamed mom took the initiative to organize the mom hangouts, Mandy also shared how one mom in particular—Hilary—was the catalyst for getting the group started.
"She was just like a boss," Mandy added. "She was like, 'We need a music class. We need community.' So she sort of started this music class at her house and gathered a group of incredible women, and I brought a few into the fold, as well. And we evolved from music class to movement class to all hanging out."
Although Mandy's friend group began as a safe space for the women to get together with their toddlers, it grew into much more than that, creating lifelong friendships.
"People get together for holidays, people get together for birthdays," she added. "We go to the zoo, you know? It's like all the things you do collectively as a friends group."
Although Ashley claimed that she left her friend group with a simple text to their shared chat, explaining how she didn't "want to take part in it anymore," Mandy explained how her mom group chat is used for "all the things."
"The moms chat is always popping off with questions, comments, concerns," she added. "Like, fun gossip."
