Hilary Duff brought a blast from the past to Madison Square Garden.
During the first of her two sold-out shows at MSG on Wednesday, August 5, the 38-year-old pop star welcomed a surprise guest to the stage: ex-boyfriend Joel Madden.
Surprise performance
Midway through the concert, Duff changed into an oversized T-shirt — which she’s done on every stop of her tour so far. The shirt, which changes every night, usually pays homage to an aspect of Y2K pop culture.
During Wednesday’s show, she donned a Good Charlotte tee before revealing that the punk rock band, fronted by brothers Joel and Benji Madden, would be joining her on stage.
“New York, you know I would never come here and not have a surprise for you,” she teased. “New York City, can you please give the warmest welcome to my friends Good Charlotte!”
After giving the brothers hugs, Duff helped them perform their hit song “The Anthem.”
Friendly exes
It was a full-circle moment for fans who’ve followed Duff since her Disney Channel days. Plenty of Duffenders remember when she and Joel dated from 2004 to 2006.
Despite calling it quits, there’s clearly no bad blood between the former couple. They’ve stayed close over the years, and Duff even joined her husband, Matthew Koma, along with Benji, Joel and his wife, Nicole Richie, for a photo backstage.
Benji shared the snap on his Instagram Story, writing, “FAMILY NIGHT @MSG Congrats @hilaryduff @matthewkoma @nicolerichie @joelmadden love yall.” Duff, Koma and Joel each reposted the image.
‘Good relationship’
Duff previously shared that there has always been a lot of respect between her and Joel. She discussed their relationship during a 2023 appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
“By the way, I have a good relationship with their whole family. I think people were [blown away by that]. I don’t know. We’re neighbors. And we actually hang out all the time,” she told Andy Cohen.
“We get to hike with them all the time,” she added. “And you know what? It’s lovely.”
Family affair
Duff’s four children — Luca, 14, Banks, 7, Mae, 5, and Townes, 2 — also attended the MSG show.
“My kids are here tonight,” the “Come Clean” singer told the crowd. “I can’t believe I get to show them this.”
Duff also revealed that her day did not go exactly as planned, as she ended up at the hospital before the performance.
“We were in the ER this morning getting some stitches for my 5-year-old,” she shared. “She’s fine. It’s all good. But it’s very ‘our family-coded’ that I would be playing my first show at MSG and also be in the emergency room getting my kid stitched up.” (She didn’t specify what kind of injury necessitated the stitches.)