THE EXPLOSIVE real reason Ashley Tisdale stopped speaking to ex-BFF Vanessa Hudgens has come to light after decades of friendship, The U.S. Sun can exclusively reveal.
The pair formed a “sisterhood” as the stars of the Disney Channel sensation, High School Musical, but quietly parted ways in recent years – leaving fans begging to know why.
As Ashley, 40, is caught in the middle of a media frenzy for exposing the “toxic” mom group she used to be friends with, more is coming out about her other relationships.
A source revealed that Ashley and Vanessa’s friendship slowly unraveled as both women “grew into very different adults” – but the final straw was Vanessa’s breakup with Austin Butler.
“Vanessa and Ashley were already drifting apart just due to becoming two different adults from the young girls they were when they became friends.
“But their friendship officially ended when Austin [Butler] broke up with Vanessa,” a source alleged to The U.S. Sun.
“Ashley and Austin are best friends too and Vanessa felt Ashley was much more supportive of Austin than she was of her.
“She didn’t feel supported during that breakup and felt Ashley focused on herself, her family, and her problems when Vanessa was in a time of need.
“Eventually, it was healthier for them to no longer have a close friendship, so there was never a question of Ashley being invited to her wedding.
“By that time, they were done. Ashley tries to seem like a girl’s girl, but she doesn’t back that up when she’s needed by her closest friends.”
Austin, 34, and Ashley met as teenagers around 2009 when they filmed the movie, Aliens in the Attic, together.
Since then, they have maintained a friendship so close that it led to accusations that Ashley took his side over Vanessa’s before their early 2020 breakup.
Vanessa and Ashley appeared inseparable during the ‘00s after the 2006 release of High School Musical catapulted both of them to international stardom.
At the time, Vanessa was famously dating co-star Zac Efron, who also used to be a close friend of Ashley’s.
The pair often spent time with one another and frequently traveled together.
Vanessa was even a bridesmaid at Ashley’s wedding to musician Christopher French back in 2014.
However, Ashley was shockingly absent from Vanessa’s 2023 wedding to MLB star Cole Tucker.
Vanessa invited her other High School Musical co-stars, including Lucas Grabeel and Monique Coleman, to the nuptials – making Ashley’s absence all the more striking.
Ashley further fueled feud rumors during a 2024 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, where she was asked about her friendship with Vanessa.
“I haven’t seen her in a long time. Obviously, she’s working, I’m working. I have a daughter. So it’s like, you know, she has a full-time job,” she confessed.
Ashley shares two children with her husband, Christopher: daughters Jupiter Iris, 4, and one-year-old, Emerson Clover.
Vanessa and her athlete husband have two kids of their own, born in July 2024 and November 2025.
Vanessa and Cole keep their personal life private, so not much else is publicly known about their children.