Anonymous wrote:OP here. The gossip was half true. The other half I don’t know whether it was true or not. Let’s say it’s equal to saying someone is overweight behind their back, and they are in fact overweight. I feel my friend is entitled to be upset and not want to be friends with the gossiper. Personally as I get older, the less I care about stuff like this and just take the good with the bad. So I feel no need to end my years long friendship with the gossiper because I don’t care if she says bad things about me behind my back. People are human nobody’s perfect. But the mom who was gossiped about is very upset with the gossiper and the friend in the group who listened to the gossip. I’m just not sure if I should be upfront and say, hey I get your upset but FYI, I have plans to attend to continue being friends with everyone involved, and hangout with you all separately.
Anonymous wrote:I would just continue on without announcing anything to anyone. If the friend asks why you are still friends with the gossiper, then just explain as you did here. She may, even is likely to, stop being friends with you as well, but that is her right.
Anonymous wrote:I can’t believe they haven’t cut out the gossiper. This happened to some friends but I wasn’t directly involved. We were in a moms group together and there were 5-6 moms with similar age kids (I did not have kids in the age range) who would meet up at additional times. They found out that one mom was gossiping and bad-mouthing and they cut her out. If she’s gossiping about one person, guarantee she’s doing it to all of you, so tread carefully.
Anonymous wrote:I’m a part of a mom group of 5. We’ve been friends for years and have always gotten along great. Recently one of the moms gossiped about another mom. The mom who was gossiped about is angry and won’t come to group gatherings anymore. She is the mom I’m closest to. I feel there is an unspoken expectation that I stop talking to the gossiper, however I’d like to remain friends with everyone. How would you approach this?