- - Gaby Dalkin Seemingly Responds to Drama Surrounding Ashley Tisdale's Viral Essay About 'Toxic' Mom Group

Kayla GrantJanuary 8, 2026 at 8:50 AM

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Cindy Ord/WireImage; Katie Flores/Variety via Getty

Gaby Dalkin; Ashley Tisdale -

Gaby Dalkin is seemingly responding to Ashley Tisdale French's viral "toxic" mom group essay

In a post on Instagram Threads, the food blogger asked her followers what she missed over the past few days amid the drama

Tisdale French's essay was published in The Cut on Thursday, Jan. 1, after she originally shared her story as a blog post in November 2025.

Gaby Dalkin is seemingly responding to Ashley Tisdale French's viral "toxic" mom group essay.

In a post on Instagram Threads, the food blogger, 39, who's allegedly a member of the High School Musical alum's former mom group, shared that she's "slowly coming back online" following the rush of the winter holiday season.

The mom of two cheekily ended her post by asking her followers what she missed over the past few days, during which drama unfolded from Tisdale French's viral "toxic" mom group essay. Tisdale French, 40, originally shared her story as a blog post in November 2025 and it was later published in The Cut on Thursday, Jan. 1.

"Slowly coming back online after 2 weeks of family time, all the kid activities, and copious amounts of Christmas crack and cookies," she wrote. "What did I miss??? 😆😆😆😆."

Gaby Dalkin/Threads

Gaby Dalkin's post

In her viral essay, Tisdale French, who shares her two children, Emerson, 15 months, and Jupiter, 4, with her husband Christopher French, revealed that she'd left her mom friend group last year after experiencing behavior that made her feel like she was back in high school. The actress wrote that she initially "felt lucky" to find a group of women going through the same feelings as her.

Although she wrote she initially felt like she "found my village," Tisdale French started sensing a distance between herself and the other moms. She said she was getting invited to things less and less and was even excluded from an event that the other moms planned at her daughter's birthday party. She started feeling like she wasn't cool enough to be in the group and felt like she was in high school again.

She ended up texting the group that she didn't want to be a part of their circle anymore, saying, "This is too high school for me and I don't want to take part in it anymore." Tisdale French said some of the women tried to make amends, while others attempted to convince her that it was all in her head.

"To be clear, I never considered the moms to be bad people. (Maybe one.)," wrote Tisdale French. "But I do think our group dynamic stopped being healthy and positive — for me anyway."

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 Dalkin, Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor, Mandy Moore and others.

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

Sources around Tisdale French and her former mom group have shed 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 told PEOPLE exclusively. "Friends naturally drift apart. It didn’t warrant a dramatic breakup text."

Hilary Duff/Instagram

Ashley Tisdale, Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor, Gaby Dalkin, and others

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A second source said 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," said the source, adding that "this is blowing up in the craziest way."

On Tuesday, Jan. 6, Duff's husband Matthew Koma slammed Tisdale French's essay on his Instagram Stories, in which he photoshopped his face onto Tisdale French's body and included his own fictional headline that read: "When You're The Most Self Obsessed Tone Deaf Person On Earth, Other Moms Tend To Shift Focus To Their Actual Toddlers." A sub-headline read, "A Mom Group Tell All Through A Father's Eyes."

While Tisdale French still followed Trainor on Instagram as of Wednesday, Jan. 7, she no longer followed Dalkin, Duff or Moore — who still follows Tisdale French — on the platform.

"If a mom group consistently leaves you feeling hurt, drained or left out, it’s not the mom group for you," Tisdale French wrote in her essay. "Choosing to step away doesn’t make you mean or judgmental. It makes you honest with yourself. It’s also worth remembering that friendships, like all relationships, have seasons."

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”