Hilary Duff is reflecting on a difficult period in her life, sharing how a “devastating” rift once left her estranged from her parents and sister Haylie Duff.
During the conversation on the March 9 episode of the On Purpose With Jay Shetty podcast, the How I Met Your Father alum candidly revealed her complex relationship with her parents, Bob Duff and Susan Duff, mentioning that it relates to the lyrics of the song The Optimist from her new album Luck… or Something.
“I think being very vulnerable and open about what it's like to be in a family that your parents aren't together and you don't have relationships with both of your parents,” she said of the track’s lyrical inspiration.
Duff went on to say, “It's devastating. It doesn't matter what age you are, you want your parents to feel like they care about you. And a big portion of my existence hasn't felt like that.”
“I don’t know if that's the truth,” A Cinderella Story star added, “but that's how it feels.”
“My dad and I don't really have much of a relationship and we don't speak very often,” she elaborated.
Duff stated, “It's really hard, I think, if a family breaks apart very dramatically. It's hard to find your way back sometimes—some people want to and some people don't.”
She also shared about her difficult relationship with her sister Haylie in recent years, with their estrangement inspiring her new song We Don’t Talk.
The former Disney Channel star said she later realized such sibling rifts are more common than she once thought.
To note, Hilary Duff sixth studio album, Luck… or Something was released on February 20, 2026.
