Selena Gomez’s mother Mandy Teefey has denied claims she “snorted Ritalin” during office hours, after a bombshell report spawned multiple allegations about her behaviour at her mental health company.
ICYMI, the mother-daughter duo founded Wondermind in 2021 alongside entrepreneur Daniella Pierson, with the aim of producing expert-backed mental health content. It was inspired by each of the women’s mental health struggles, with Gomez in particular using her public platform to talk openly about mental health.
However, the Wondermind quickly ran into trouble, laying off 60 per cent of its 15-person staff in May this year.
Now, an exposè published by The Cut accuses Teefey — who serves as the CEO — of erratic behaviour while working for the company, levelled against her by multiple anonymous employees.
The allegations date back to 2023, and include claims Teefey “hallucinated” seeing an intruder on the premises of the Los Angeles office, as well as claims she would sleep in the office for days, and would regularly get liquid injections.
Of the drug use allegations, an anonymous staffer claimed they witnessed Teefey “snort what they believed was a line of Ritalin”, a medication used by those with ADHD.
Other accusers described Teefey’s office as a “drug den”, including in the form of a drip which staffers claimed was regularly administered to Teefey by a roster of rotating nurses who came to the office.
They alleged the drip was filled with Benadryl, an antihistamine that in high doses can cause hallucinations and delirium. One staffer claimed that after the administration, Teefey “spoke slowly and seemed drowsy”.
As a result, employees alleged Teefey “hallucinated” a break-in at the office, after which she allegedly fired off a series of startling texts to the staff group chat.
That incident allegedly resulted in police being called to the premises, though a police report obtained by The Cut noted “no evidence of trespass” at the building.
More broadly, the exposè included claims that Teefey was prone to angry outbursts and would sleep at the office for long stretches, allegedly resulting in piles of takeaway boxes that accumulated flies.
As for Gomez’s involvement, the staffers alleged the pop star “knew her mother was not well enough to be running that company” and would see Teefey’s behaviour “firsthand” but would not “do anything” to address it.
“Selena, in my opinion, is just as culpable,” one employee claimed.
Teefey came forward to deny all the allegations, telling The Cut they were levelled by “a few disgruntled employees with an axe to grind”.
“I started Wondermind because I wanted to help people with mental illness. It’s unfortunate that a few disgruntled employees with an axe to grind can spread lies about me and distort the truth,” Teefey said.
Of the Ritalin claim, Teefey said she “absolutely [did] not” snort a line in the office, and said she slept on the premises only occasionally because she was “doing everything on my own”.
The Cut reports Teefey didn’t go into specifics about the drip allegation, but did mention receiving drips from various nurses, while her colleague Jonathon Glucksman came forward corroborating her claims of an office trespasser.
Of the intruder, Teefey said the office is in a “very sketchy neighborhood” with a “huge homeless community that would roam in and out of our building”.
Teefey also addressed employees’ claims she would binge-watch the Schitt’s Creek for hours at a time in the middle of the workday, saying would always have “something playing in the background”.
“It’s part of my ADHD — that helps me focus,” Teefey said.
She went on to slam the media for “amplifying” the “lies” of the accusers.
Gomez and Teefey’s relationship was once estranged, but the pair reportedly reconnected in 2019 before launching Wondermind with Pierson.
The singer has yet to respond to the allegations against her mother and their business.
Lead images: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images and Mandy Teefey/Instagram
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