Christina Ricci Has Beef With the Hilary Duff-Joel Madden Reunion

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Joel Madden, Benji Madden, and Hilary Duff posing together at the 2005 MTV VMAs press room in front of the event backdrop.
Evan Agostini / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Hilary Duff surprised fans with a blast from the past at an August 5 show at Madison Square Garden. She brought out Joel Madden and his twin brother, Benji Madden, for a performance of Good Charlotte’s “The Anthem,” with Duff changing into a vintage Good Charlotte T-shirt before the performance.

Joel Madden, Benji Madden, and Hilary Duff posing together at the 2005 MTV VMAs press room in front of the event backdrop.
Joel Madden (left) and twin brother Benji flank Hilary Duff in the press room at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards in Miami — the pair were dating at the time, with Duff 16 and Joel 25. Photo by Evan Agostini / Getty Images.

Duff was 16 when she started dating Joel Madden. He was 25. An intimate relationship between them would have been illegal in California and 30 other states.

Hilary Duff in a white turtleneck and Joel Madden in a black jacket pose together at a CosmoGirl event in 2005.
26-year-old Joel Madden attends a Cosmo Girl party with his 17-year-old girlfriend, Hilary Duff, in 2005.

On stage, she called the brothers “two of my dearest friends” and “day oners.” Backstage, it was a family night: Duff, husband Matthew Koma, Joel and his wife Nicole Richie all together.

Cute? Christina Ricci doesn’t think so.

Hilary Duff and Joel Madden seated front row at the Michael Kors Fall 2006 fashion show at Bryant Park in New York City
Duff and Madden in 2006.

Hello magazine posted about the reunion in a warm, nostalgic tone, noting the two dated “when she was 16 and he was 25” and now live happy separate lives with their spouses.

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The account @ask_aubry pushed back: “No we are not going to normalize a grown man grooming a teenager.” Ricci, replying under her @riccigrams handle, added: “Yeah seriously wtf?”

Christina Ricci in a black off-the-shoulder ruffled dress holding a black bag with gold ring handles at the Academy Museum Gala.
Christina Ricci attends the 5th Annual Academy Museum Gala in Los Angeles on October 18, 2025, wearing an off-the-shoulder black ruffled gown and carrying a sculptural gold-handled bag. Photo by Amy Sussman / Getty Images.

Duff has spoken positively about Madden. The families are neighbors.

Back in 2007, Joel addressed his 2-year relationship with Duff to PEOPLE, saying, “People can say or think whatever they want … so in my reality, it’s kind of irrelevant. I’m always the kind of person that does the right thing and keeps my side of the street clean.”

Fans are split on whether it’s possible for a 25-year-old to date a 16-year-old without it being nefarious.

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