Time recently named Hilary Duff one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2026, along with other stars like Keke Palmer, Noah Wyle, and Rhea Seehorn. To celebrate the achievement, Nicole Richie has penned a statement for the magazine, praising Duff.
“Hilary Duff has been my friend for about seven years, but in the minds of millennials everywhere, she’s been our friend for most of our lives,” Richie wrote. “I would like to speak for all of us by saying we experienced one big, collective surge of serotonin when she released new music. Hilary exists in that rare space of both nostalgia and now. She reminds us of a time that felt safe and full of possibility. But she also grew up, unapologetically. She built a family, a career, and an overall rhythm that is expansive and authentic.”
Richie is married to musician Joel Madden from Good Charlotte, who started dating Duff in 2004, when she was 16 and he was 25. The pair split in 2006, and later that same year, he started dating Richie. They married in 2010 after having two children together. Despite the fact that Richie and Duff dated the same man so close together, the women are close friends to this day.
In her Time statement, Richie continued, “She is the girl we danced with in our bedrooms then and the woman we all want to have dinner with now. Grounded, glowing, and fully herself. Somehow mothering four children, leading a massive pop resurgence, and still making time for a fun night with her girlfriends for a glass of wine (or seven). I’m letting the rain fall down, and my hair down, and feeling Mature through it all.”
In a 2023 episode of on Watch What Happens Live, Duff spoke about her friendship with Richie. "We actually hang out all the time," she revealed. "I was just in her driveway honking for her to come drink wine with us the other day."
