The Real Pain Behind That “Toxic Moms” Essay

Engagement Party

CNN

News, Society & Culture, Entertainment News, Arts

4.6 • 986 Ratings

🗓️ 15 January 2026

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Arguably the first viral moment of 2026 is an essay about a “toxic” group of mom friends. Actor and singer Ashley Tisdale French wrote an essay for New York Magazine’s The Cut about being iced out of her circle of fellow moms and – celebrity intrigue aside – it struck a nerve. Dr. Noelle Santorelli is a mom and a clinical psychologist who tells Audie there’s deep suffering wrapped up in establishing community around your family. She and Audie discuss the vulnerability of needing support, making friends for yourself and your kid, and the dysfunction of group dynamics. -- This episode was produced by Lori Galarreta. Senior Producer: Matt Martinez Technical Director: Dan Dzula Executive Producer: Steve Lickteig Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I heard a rumor that one of the moms in this news story reached out to you.
0:05.8	Well, yeah, Ashley.
0:07.3	So I commented and she commented back to me that it was one of my posts that she saw that made her feel like she wasn't alone in this.
0:15.9	You're patient zero.
0:17.5	You are the cause of this news story.
0:20.2	I was like, did I cause this?
0:22.2	Wait a second.
0:25.5	Hey, everybody, I'm Audie Cornish, and this is the assignment.
0:29.1	And yeah, you just heard me talking to the Dr. Noel Santorelli about the Ashley Tisdale French toxic mom group chat drama. So here's what happened. There was this essay where Tisdale French toxic mom group chat drama.
0:38.0	So here's what happened.
0:39.1	There was this essay where Tisdale French shared the experience of quietly being
0:44.1	iced out of her mom group, which is rumored to be full of celebrities, Hillary Duff, Mandy
0:50.3	Moore, Megan Trainor.
0:52.5	And like, yeah, it's celebrity gossip, as in I'm not even sure all those people were officially in the mom group.
1:00.1	But this is a real thing.
1:02.3	Mom friends and mom friendships.
1:05.0	It can be complicated.
1:06.4	It can be difficult.
1:07.7	And, you know, you're vulnerable.
1:10.0	She is giving a game for something that a lot of women experienced, and she is giving them
1:14.1	permission to speak up and say, I decided to leave this group.
1:17.0	It wouldn't help me for me.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from CNN, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of CNN and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.