Nicole Richie reacts to Hilary Duff’s ‘Mature’ amid rumors it’s about Joel Madden

Any rumors of a feud are so yesterday.

Nicole Richie took to Instagram to congratulate Hilary Duff on her new single “Mature” amid speculation that the lyrics are about her husband of 15 years, Joel Madden. 

“‘Mature’ is not the word I would use to describe us, but regardless, this song is a BOP,” the fashion designer, 44, wrote on her Instagram Story on Tuesday beneath an image of her and the singer, 38, lying in the grass, laughing.

Duff was romantically linked to the Good Charlotte singer, 46, when she was just 16 and he was 25 from 2004 to 2006.

However, Madden ended up marrying Richie in 2010. Richie and Madden share daughter Harlow, 17, and son Sparrow, 16.

The “Lizzy McGuire” vet, meanwhile, tied the knot with hockey player Mike Comrie in 2010 before splitting in 2016. The exes share son Luca Cruz, 13.

Duff went on to marry songwriter Matthew Koma in 2019. The couple are parents to daughters Banks Violet, 7, Mae James, 4, and Townes, 1.

Fans theorized that Duff’s track was about Madden, with one social media user writing on X on Nov. 10, “So, Hilary Duff fans, mature is about Joel Madden right?”

A second listener chimed in: “New Hilary Duff being a Joel Madden diss track is WILD.”

Duff has yet to respond to the speculation, but has spoken out about her friendship with Richie over the years.

“We actually hang out all the time,” she expressed on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen” in 2023. “I was just in her driveway honking her to come drink wine with us the other day.” 

Duff described the meaning behind her new tune on November 6.

“It’s definitely about a brief experience that I had a long, long time ago,” Duff told Vogue. “It was extremely therapeutic to write about things that a normal conversation doesn’t really give you the opportunity to.”

The Disney star belts out in the chorus: “She looks / Like all of your girls but blonder / A little like me, just younger / Bet she loves when she hears you say / ‘You’re so mature for your agе, babe,’” she continued in the chorus. “She looks / Like shе could be your daughter / Like me before I got smarter / When I was flattered to hear you say / ‘You’re so mature for your age, babe,’ oh.”

The actress previously got candid on her new single while on the “Therapuss” podcast last week.

She described “Mature” as “self-talking to my younger self about an experience that we had and just reflecting on it, and being okay with it and having a little tongue-in-cheek moment with yourself and accepting your past and being good with where you landed.”

The “Younger” alum detailed that the song’s music video was “the journey of the two me’s meeting” and highlighted a “sweet butterfly moment” that has remained an important theme for her since 2003’s “Metamorphosis.”

Duff’s return to music may come as a shock to some, but she said it was “always going to happen.”

“There’s no way that that was not going to be a part of my story,” she said. “Obviously, it’s taken a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs and all of those things, but I have this crazy connection with fans that I’ve known since I was nine, 10 years old, and I just want to connect with them again.”

“We have gone through a lot of the same things – whether that’s complicated relationships, anxiety, raising kids, divorces, trying to find yourself in adulthood, family drama,” she added. “Finally, I felt safe enough and comfortable in my own family to step outside and open that part of myself up again.”

Duff first rose to fame as Disney Channel’s “Lizzie McGuire” in 2002. That same year, she released the holiday album “Santa Claus Lane.”

Duff’s 2003 record “Metamorphosis” solidified her pop star status with songs like “So Yesterday” and “Come Clean.”

The “Cinderella Story” star’s self-titled album, “Hilary Duff,” was released a year later and included the iconic tracks “Fly” and “Someone’s Watching Over Me.”

After Duff’s compilation album “Most Wanted” in 2005, which included the songs “Wake Up” and “Beat of My Heart,” she released “Dignity” in 2007.

Her third studio album included songs such as “With Love” and “Stranger.”

After “Dignity,” Duff took a hiatus from recording to focus on acting. Eight years later, she returned with 2015’s “Breathe In Breathe Out.” The album included the single “Sparks.”