Christopher French is speaking publicly for the first time about the fallout from Ashley Tisdale’s viral essay about leaving what she called a “toxic mom group.”
Speaking to Page Six, French said he and Tisdale are “doing fine” nine months after the essay set off speculation about her former circle of friends. “She’s a super smart, capable person, and she knows what she’s doing and that’s part of what I love about her,” he said.
French said supporting his wife did not mean stepping into the dispute or speaking for her. He trusted Tisdale to decide which relationships were right for her and how she wanted to handle them.
His comments arrive as the couple is discussing a different period of their marriage publicly through French’s new Recovering podcast, where Tisdale opened up about postpartum depression after the birth of their first daughter.
French Says He Never Felt the Need to Fight Tisdale’s Battle
French said he had “no problem supporting my wife completely” while leaving her interpersonal relationships for her to manage.
French told Page Six that he fully supported Tisdale handling her own relationships in whatever way felt right to her, without feeling the need to get involved or speak on her behalf.
He described Tisdale as a “really smart chick” and “a very capable person,” adding that knowing how much the situation affected her made it difficult to watch from the outside.
The couple has generally kept personal conflicts private. French said the subject was different because it mattered deeply to Tisdale, even though he did not see a reason to take over the conversation himself.
Tisdale Said the Group Started to Feel Like High School
Tisdale described the friendship breakdown in her January essay, writing that she initially felt energized by a circle of working mothers who were balancing careers, businesses and children.
Over time, she said she began feeling increasingly excluded from gatherings and noticed the other women spending time together without her. ABC News covered Tisdale’s account when the essay was published, including her description of the dynamic as resembling “high school drama.”
Tisdale eventually left the group chat with a message saying, “This is too high school for me and I don’t want to take part in it anymore.” She also made clear that she did not consider the other mothers bad people, but no longer felt the friendships were healthy for her.
She never named the women in the group. Public speculation later focused on Hilary Duff, Mandy Moore and Meghan Trainor, but Tisdale’s representative denied that the essay was about those three women.
French and Tisdale Are Now Talking About Her Postpartum Depression
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French’s comments come as he launches Recovering, a podcast built around conversations about mental health, addiction, trauma, grief and what happens after difficult periods in people’s lives.
In an interview with PEOPLE, French said Tisdale wanted to be his first guest and chose to discuss her experience with postpartum depression after the birth of their daughter Jupiter.
During the episode, Tisdale said the condition put significant strain on their marriage. She recalled repeatedly telling French that she wanted a divorce during the first year after Jupiter was born, while he described watching her mood change quickly and feeling unable to fix what she was experiencing.
Tisdale said she had previously developed tools for managing anxiety but found that those strategies did not work the same way during postpartum depression. French described his role at the time as staying present and trying to reduce some of the pressure that came with caring for a newborn.
The Couple Has Been Married Since 2014
French and Tisdale married in September 2014 after becoming engaged the previous year. They welcomed Jupiter in 2021 and their second daughter, Emerson, in 2024.
Tisdale said her experience after Emerson’s birth was different and that she did not go through the same level of postpartum depression she had faced after Jupiter.
French has also spoken about the role therapy has played in their marriage. In a separate interview with TV Insider, he said the couple established a relationship with a therapist before major problems arose and have continued working with the same therapist through different stages of their marriage.