Selena Gomez has blasted a "meritless" lawsuit from investors that accused her of fraud.
The Only Murders in the Building actress co-founded Wondermind in 2021 with her mother Mandy Teefey and their former business partner Daniella Pierson, and earlier this week the trio were sued by Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind LLC, who accused them of having "falsely represented" the mental health and wellness platform's infrastructure, leadership and resources.
Her lawyer, Mathew S. Rosengart, said in a statement: “The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally.
"We will vigorously defend these false allegations and indeed are filing a motion to dismiss the baseless claims against her."
The investors are said to have put nearly $1.2 million into the company and claimed they were not informed as Wondermind "quietly collapsed around them", only discovering the “utter financial and operational disarray” from a story in The Cut last autumn, which included allegations from unnamed former employees who had alleged Mandy was unfit to serve as CEO, claims the 34-year-old singer-and-actress had attempted to distance herself from the company and a suggestion they had failed to pay employees or vendors.
The plaintiffs claimed they were told Selena would be “actively building the company as its head of marketing,” and that she signed a contract “obligating her to perform and then ignored it.”
Partnerships for Wondermind to provide mental health and wellness services to employees at J.P. Morgan and Fidelity allegedly "did not exist", and the lawsuit also claimed proposals for advertising deals, celebrity cover stories and a “groundbreaking app” never came to fruition but Selena, Mandy and Daniella continued to tell investors the platform “was performing well and poised for success".
Following the publication of The Cut's article last September, investors sent the women a notice of recission and demanded a return of their funds, but Mandy allegedly “never substantively responded to the notice".
According to the lawsuit, she contacted Andrew Resnick and suggested he and other investors hold off on any lawsuit because Wondermind was in the process of setting up an escrow account to help process the return of their investment, and she allegedly then "disappeared".
The documents stated: "[This] bizarre interaction reinforces the lengths to which the defendants have gone — and will continue to go — to conceal their fraud, lull the plaintiffs, and evade accountability."
In April, Mandy allegedly told the plaintiffs via email that she "thought [they] had returned your investment", despite the fact Wondermind had "returned nothing.”
In an earlier statement to the New York Times newspaper, Daniella denied using investor funds for personal expenses and said she “categorically denies the allegations against her and welcomes the opportunity to present concrete documentation and financial records that establish the facts.”
Mandy has yet to comment on the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial.
