Is Hilary Duff in the 'Toxic Mom Group'? Matthew Koma sets the record straight

Matthew Koma woke up and chose pettiness.

The 38-year-old musician and professional internet menace found himself dragged into celeb mum group discourse after his wife, Hilary Duff, was quietly name-checked by the internet following Ashley Tisdale’s essay for "The Cut" about leaving a “toxic mum group”.

You know the kind: brunches, side-eyes, strategic seating arrangements, and Instagram Stories doing the most.

In the essay, Tisdale detailed moments of feeling iced out, from being excluded from group hangs she only discovered via social media, to realising she’d been placed at the end of a dinner table, far from the rest of the mums.

The internet, naturally, put two and two together and landed on the high-profile mum circle that included Tisdale, Hilary Duff, Meghan Trainor and Mandy Moore.

Then came the digital smoking gun: Tisdale no longer follows Duff or Moore on Instagram. And we all know what that means. That’s not an accident. That’s a statement. That’s “we don’t talk anymore” in influencer Morse code.

Tisdale’s rep was quick to shut it down, insisting the essay wasn’t about that group. But by then, the group chat had already been screenshotted, archived and analysed by strangers with too much time and WiFi.

Then Koma woke up and chose to be a menace to society. Instead of issuing a polite statement or pretending not to see it, Koma did what any supportive, slightly chaotic husband would do (I think) he posted an Instagram Story.

The image showed him sitting casually on a couch with a fake "The Cut" headline: “A Mom Group Tell-All Through a Father’s Eye. When you’re the most self-obsessed, tone-deaf person on earth, other moms tend to shift focus to their actual toddlers.”

Was it pouring petrol on an already flaming group chat situation? Without question.

It was petty, pointed, and very much on brand for someone who refuses to let his wife be quietly side-eyed without consequences.

Some X users loved that he was standing up for his wife. @wwxwashere commented: "Gotta love a husband standing up for his wife ngl (not going to lie)."

However, not everyone felt it was his place to "chime" in. @Kemeebassey commented: "Calling a mother self obsessed because she felt excluded is such a low blow. Matthew needs to stay in a man’s place and let the women handle their own friend group drama. It’s giving obsessed."

While @foolmealex wrote: "I’m a Hilary Duff fan but he kinda proved Ashley’s point here. Also, do women stop being individuals after having children? What did he mean by that?"

Tisdale’s post was about feeling excluded, judged, or sidelined in a mom group. Kamo’s post basically called someone self-absorbed and tone-deaf, implying that their behaviour was why other moms focus on their kids instead.

To some fans, this reads as him criticising women for prioritising their children, which mirrors the same “judgment and exclusion” Tisdale wrote about. In other words, he may have unintentionally reinforced the dynamic Tisdale was calling out.