Why Hilary Duff Felt ‘Ready’ To Dish On ‘Complicated’ Family Ties

With her upcoming album “Luck,” Hilary Duff is peeling back the curtain on some of her most personal chapters and explaining why now feels like the right time to confront those emotions publicly.

The “How I Met Your Father” alum has dropped songs with lyrics that appear to allude to broken relationships, sparking rumors about the real-life inspiration behind the music.

Duff has also found herself at the center of fresh controversy with Disney creators following Ashley Tisdale’s “toxic mom groups” drama.

In a new cover story, the “Lizzie McGuire” star confirmed that several tracks in her album address long-standing family tensions. She explained that the decision to speak about it came from a desire to be authentic at this stage of her career.

“That’s my family. Those are the people that affect you the most, take up the most space naturally as a human who’s born into something,” Duff told Glamour. “Just because you’re born into a family doesn’t mean that it always stays together. You can only control your side and your street.”

The 38-year-old appeared to address the track, “The Optimist,” where she sang, “I wish I could sleep on planes, and that my father would really love me,” explaining that her relationship with her parents is not rosy. 

 “I’ve had a very complicated life, and my parents had a very complicated thing,” she admitted. “I know it’s not rare, and I think it goes back to the theme of, ‘Why share now?’ I guess I just felt ready.”

Duff’s recent admission comes after weeks of speculation that her new album touches on a family rift.

Fans weighed in on the track “We Don’t Talk,” which she performed at London’s O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire, as a reference to her fractured relationship with sister Haylie.

As The Blast reported, Duff delivered emotional lyrics that seemed to capture the unraveling of a sibling bond, which read, “Don’t know when it happened / Not even sure what it was about /’Cause we come from the same home, same blood.”

Elsewhere in the song, she belts: “And if it’s ’cause you’re jealous / God knows I would sell it all, then break you off the bigger half,” a line fans interpreted as addressing a long-standing rivalry.

Amid Hilary’s strained relationship with Haylie, her alleged involvement in a “toxic mom group” appears to be adding fuel to the feud, especially as Haylie seems to be siding against her.

The drama followed after Ashley Tisdale published an article in The Cut, narrating her experience in a mom group, which fans suspected Hilary, Mandy Moore, and Meghan Trainor were part of. 

Soon after, The Blast reported that Haylie’s child was spotted spending time with Tisdale’s daughter, a moment Haylie shared on Instagram and Tisdale later reposted.

Before the playdate, Haylie had already shown support by liking Tisdale’s essay on Instagram.

Aside from addressing family tensions through her music, the “Cheaper by the Dozen” actress is also confronting chapters from her dating life.

Her track “Mature” offers an intimate look back at her rumored relationship with Joel Madden, which began when she was 16 and he was 25.

Duff revealed that the song was her way of reflecting on that period. “I was looking back on this relationship and thinking about whether this guy had a habit of dating younger women or whether I was special,” Duff explained, per The Blast. 

She described the process of writing the song as healing, allowing her to be vulnerable and explore conversations that often go unspoken.