Well folks, it’s official; Hilary Duff has ended her decade-long music hiatus with the release of her comeback single “Mature”. This, truly, is what dreams are made of.
Naturally, fans are already pouring over the lyrics of the track and debating whether they’re about Joel Madden, whom Duff briefly dated back in the early 2000s.
As for why the Good Charlotte bandmate has been brought into the fray, well, “Mature” seems to be directed towards a previous ex who dated younger women. At the time of their romance, Madden was 25 years old while Duff was 16… which is pretty YIKES.
Duff’s mother, Susan, was the one who first confirmed rumours that the pair were dating back in 2005, saying Madden was a “cool guy”.
Now, many years later, Duff appeared to reference an age-gap relationship on her new song. “She could be your daughter,” Duff sings on the chorus, “bet she loves when she hears you say ‘you’re so mature for your agе, babe.’”
It wasn’t long before fans grabbed their microscopes and deduced that Duff could’ve been referencing her age-gap fling with Madden, with one writing on X that the singer “really came back with a song calling Joel Madden out for [allegedly] grooming her when she was 16”.
“Hearing Hilary Duff sing about being told you’re mature for your age knowing she dated a 25-year-old at 16” another user claimed.
While fans can theorise till the cows come home, Duff gave us the full tea on “Mature” in an interview with Vogue, saying it is, in fact, autobiographical… with a few “artistic liberties” thrown in for extra measure.
“It is definitely about a brief experience that I had in my — a long, long time ago,” Duff said.
“But it is not totally autobiographical. I took a few artistic liberties… but the gist is the gist. 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’,” she added.
While “Mature” certainly makes pointed jabs at its ~mystery~ subject, it’s not a diss track in the vein of “Actually Romantic” or basically the entire runtime of West End Girl, because Duff and Madden are still friends.
In 2023, the Lizzie McGuire star said she hangs out with Madden and his wife Nicole Richie “all the time”, and last year, Duff’s husband, Matthew Koma, dressed up as Madden for Halloween.
Whatever the case, I’m just glad Duff has come back to save us from this batshit year after too many years away from the mic!
Lead images: Getty Images, YouTube and X
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