What to Know
Several days after Ashley Tisdale’s “toxic” mom group essay went viral, it’s still generating plenty of buzz. And now, another member of their circle of friends is speaking out — a reality star who fans might not have expected to hear from on this topic.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Crystal Minkoff has outed herself as a former member of their mom group, and from what she’s sharing so far, it sounds like they really were all drama, just like Ashley claims.
Crystal opened up about the situation on her podcast.
On the latest episode of her podcast Humble Brag, Crystal revealed that she’s known many of the moms in the group for a very long time — some going back as far as their preschool days.
“It’s everywhere. Everyone’s talking about it,” she said. “I don’t want to give too much tea about it because it’s their personal stuff. I just found it really interesting.”
Just after the article was published, Crystal posted about the situation on Threads, writing, “Me, realizing I wasn’t mentioned in Ashley Tisdale’s ‘losing friends’ article… didn’t I literally start that trend back in 2021?”
She was eventually “dropped” from the group.
During the podcast, Crystal went on to say that she was now estranged from the group, though her falling out with the moms happened a bit differently from how it happened for Ashley. After she began her journey on Real Housewives, she said the ladies basically froze her out.
“What I found interesting is that Ashley’s story was that she left the group, and my story is I didn’t leave the group,” she said. “I did the show, and they just said — I did a whole episode about this so it’s not untold — they all went against me and dropped me.”
She said one of the moms told her they don’t believe they’re the “toxic” ones.
Crystal admitted she reached out to one of the moms in the group (though she didn’t mention who) and that person is placing all of the blame on Ashley.
“I was like, ‘I gotta know what’s going on.’ They said, ‘It’s so ironic that we’re the toxic ones and she’s on her own,’ ” she said. “I have mixed feelings about it, because I know this group. I don’t know Ashley at all. I’ve met Ashley a couple times, but I don’t know her at all.”
Still, Crystal is inclined to root for everyone on both sides of the story.
She added, “I went through this. I lived it. So my initial [thought] is I feel for all sides, because I know the group. I will say, someone like Hilary [Duff], I’ve known her for 10 years. Super sweet. I cannot see her being a mean girl like that, but it’s dynamic. So, I feel for Ashley.”
