In an Interview magazine conversation published Feb. 23, Hilary Duff, 38, told Dakota Fanning, 32, that she and husband Matthew Koma, 38, ‘literally never fight,’ though she allowed there is an annual ‘drag-out’ argument. The pair, who collaborated on Duff’s comeback album luck… or something and are preparing the Lucky Me Tour, have three daughters together and were briefly displaced during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Duff recalled one heated exchange during that period when she threw Koma’s phone into a Bougainvillea bush, then emphasized that overall the relationship and creative partnership are a steady source of support.
Key Takeaways
- Hilary Duff told Interview magazine on Feb. 23 that she and Matthew Koma ‘literally never fight,’ but admitted they have ‘one drag-out fight once a year.’
- The couple, both 38, collaborated on Duff’s album luck… or something and are preparing to promote it on the Lucky Me Tour.
- Duff said she shared daughters Banks, Mae and Townes with Koma and also has son Luca with ex-husband Mike Comrie; family life factored into a conflict during the Jan. 2025 Los Angeles wildfires.
- During the referenced argument Duff said she tossed Koma’s phone into a Bougainvillea bush while the family was displaced by the fires.
- She described Koma as an ‘incredible’ creative partner who has been making music since his mid-teens and who she wanted as the exclusive collaborator on her return record.
- Duff framed their dynamic as a close unit that eased the pressures of restarting her recording career after a long pause, noting the record was intended as a cohesive body of work rather than a bid for a single hit.
Background
Hilary Duff rose to fame on Disney Channel and achieved pop success in the early 2000s; after a period focused on family and acting she returned to music with luck… or something. Matthew Koma is an award-winning musician and producer who has worked in pop and electronic music since adolescence, and the two began collaborating both personally and professionally over the past decade. Their creative partnership culminated in the new album, which Duff framed as a project for longtime fans who had been waiting for her musical comeback.
The couple weathered a significant disruption in January 2025 when large wildfires affected Los Angeles and led to temporary displacement for many residents, including Duff’s family. That episode features in Duff’s account of an emotionally charged argument, underscoring how external stressors can magnify domestic tensions even in otherwise stable relationships. Public interest in celebrity couples who work together has been high, with observers often asking whether artistic collaboration strains marriages or deepens them.
Main Event
In the Interview magazine exchange with Dakota Fanning, Duff repeatedly stressed that fighting is rare in her marriage to Koma, but she punctuated that claim by describing a single intense argument each year. She said Koma himself recently noted the gap between fights, prompting a lighthearted ‘are you ready’ response from her about starting the next annual quarrel. The anecdote about tossing a phone into a Bougainvillea bush occurred while the family and their children were displaced during the January 2025 fires, a stress-laden context she cited as the occasion for that outburst.
Duff credited Koma with providing emotional and professional support through the album’s production and the preparations for the Lucky Me Tour, saying he ‘elevates’ her work and helped shape a coherent record rather than chasing a single commercial hit. She described the relief of having a partner who absorbs responsibilities and called the dynamic ‘cheesy’ but real, contrasting it with earlier feelings of being a ‘lone rider’ in the industry. Duff also noted that she explicitly wanted the record to be a joint effort between the two of them rather than involving outside collaborators.
The interview situates the anecdote amid broader themes: Duff’s return to music after a long hiatus, family life with multiple children, and the practical pressures of touring and promotion. Her remarks combine personal detail with professional framing, presenting the relationship as both a creative alliance and a family anchor during crises like the 2025 wildfires.
Analysis & Implications
Celebrity accounts of private relationships often oscillate between idealization and candid moments that humanize public figures; Duff’s interview follows that pattern by balancing a reassuring message about marital harmony with a vivid anecdote about conflict. For Duff’s public image, the story functions as damage-control against tabloid narratives that couples who work together inevitably collapse, while also providing relatable texture for fans about how stress can produce rare but intense disputes.
On the industry side, Duff’s insistence on keeping Koma as her principal creative partner signals a deliberate artistic choice that may influence critical reception. Positioning the album as a cohesive body of work ‘for people who grew up listening to me’ sets expectations toward nostalgia and artistic integrity rather than purely streaming-driven singles, which could affect marketing strategy for the Lucky Me Tour and playlist placement.
From a social perspective, Duff’s description of displacement during the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires underscores how environmental crises ripple into private life and pop-culture narratives. Public figures recounting wildfire impacts can draw attention to the real-world consequences of climate-driven disasters, potentially shaping philanthropic or awareness-raising responses tied to tour appearances or public statements.
Comparison & Data
| Date or Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Jan. 2025 | Los Angeles wildfires that displaced residents, referenced by Duff |
| Dec. 2025 | Hilary Duff and Matthew Koma pictured at Apple Music Studios in Los Angeles |
| Feb. 23 (published) | Interview with Dakota Fanning published in Interview magazine |
The timeline above provides context linking the interview to recent public appearances and to the January 2025 fires that Duff cited as the setting for her anecdote. Those touchpoints help explain why a single domestic incident became a media-worthy soundbite: it occurred amid displacement and overlapping family and professional responsibilities. Quantitative measures of the album’s commercial performance or tour ticket sales were not provided in the interview and remain to be reported.
Reactions & Quotes
‘We literally never fight,’ Duff told Interview when asked about working with her husband, adding that they do have one annual, extended argument.
Hilary Duff / Interview magazine
‘It was during the fires… we had been displaced, we had all the f—ing kids, and we just needed to have it out,’ Duff said, describing the context of the argument and the moment she tossed a phone into a Bougainvillea bush.
Hilary Duff / Interview magazine
‘He definitely elevates me and my taste beyond belief,’ Duff said of Koma’s role in shaping her new record and creative direction.
Hilary Duff / Interview magazine
Unconfirmed
- No production credits or track-by-track breakdown from the album luck… or something were provided in the interview; the exact scope of Koma’s contributions is not detailed here.
- The interview does not supply sales, streaming figures or ticketing data for the Lucky Me Tour, so commercial impact remains unreported.
- Details about the duration and exact living conditions during the January 2025 displacement were described anecdotally and not independently verified in this report.
Bottom Line
Hilary Duff’s remarks present a deliberately humanizing portrait of a high-profile creative couple: predominantly harmonious, creatively aligned, and able to absorb occasional intense disputes sparked by extraordinary stress. The anecdote about the Bougainvillea bush provides a memorable detail that cuts through polished soundbites, while her praise of Matthew Koma underscores the professional rationale for keeping him central to her musical comeback.
For fans and industry observers, the interview signals that Duff intends her return to be taken seriously as an artistic statement, supported by a stable personal partnership that she says helps shoulder the burdens of touring and promotion. Key unknowns remain around commercial reception and granular production credits, but the narrative Duff offers is one of family, creative cohesion and resilience after disruption.
Sources
- Yahoo News Canada (news outlet) — original report summarizing the Interview magazine conversation.
- Interview (magazine) — published Feb. 23 interview with Dakota Fanning and Hilary Duff.
- People (news outlet) — referenced in original coverage and summary reporting on the interview.