Selena Gomez Fights Back Against Wondermind Investors’ Fraud Claims
Selena Gomez is suing an investor in Wondermind, the startup she has been accused of fraud by after the person brought legal proceedings against her. The first legal move was made by two companies, Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind LLC, which claimed that Gomez, 34, her mother, Mandy Teefey, 50, and their former collaborator, Daniella Pierson, 31, engaged in “falsely representing” the startup’s team, facilities, and support.
From the legal documents obtained by PEOPLE, it was revealed that Selena Gomez’s lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart moved on behalf of Gomez to dismiss a lawsuit on Wednesday, Aug. 26.
According to the motion that was recently filed by Rosengart, the plaintiffs’ very general, very vague, and contradictory allegations about Selena Gomez have not convinced that she could have possibly engaged in any “fraud”; in fact, she didn’t, she is not liable, and, as a matter of fact, Ms. Gomez’s being a plaintiff should definitely be dismissed from this case.
Selena Gomez Says She Was Just A ‘Consultant’ In Wondermind, Not A Manager
In his motion, Rosengart outlined what Gomez was actually doing at the company. “Ms. Gomez was supporting the mother and co-founder of Wondermind, Mandy Teefey,” reads the petition. “She, after all, is the one who invested in and got a minority stake in this business, but Ms. Gomez never really agreed, and she didn’t actually take on the role of managing the company.” The motion adds that it was largely Teefey and Pierson, not Ms. Gomez, who was running the operations on a daily basis.
“The management team comprised primarily Ms. Gomez’s mother, Mandy Teefey, and Ms. Pierson, who operated the business together as co-CEOs and on the board, respectively. In response, the company employed Ms. Gomez as a consultant and honored her with the title of Chief Impact Officer (“CIO”). “The spokesperson for the company, Teefey, hasn’t said anything about this lawsuit.
Pierson, in the meanwhile, rejected the allegations made to her via a news agency, The New York Times, and said she categorically rejected them.
Selena Lawyer: Fraud Claims Are ‘Absurd’; We’re Exploring Sanctions
Gomez’s lawyers are going all out. They are making clear through the legal papers that the plaintiffs should never have brought Selena Gomez into the lawsuit because the claims are not only baseless but also frivolous.
“Fraudulent activities and other wrongdoings attributed to Selena are just nonsense; the defendants are going beyond simply opposing the lawsuit, as is their right. In addition, they are contemplating the possible consequences for the plaintiffs through the imposition of sanctions for having improperly included Ms. Gomez.” The suit alleges that the plaintiffs contributed over $1.1 million to Wondermind, a mental health company that Gomez co-founded in 2022.
Investors say that they were not informed about a quiet collapse of the company as things “were going to pieces in a manner of weeks.”
They state that it was actually in the fall that they learned about a struggle that was affecting Wondermind thanks to a The Cut article. This story also mentioned that anonymous former employees had claimed that Teefey was not fit to be CEO of the company.
Gomez Backed By Lawyer, Source In Wondermind Suit
Rosengart has consistently argued at the very onset that Gomez had done nothing wrong. “The claims that Selena Gomez was in any conceivable way involved in, or responsible for any alleged ‘fraud’ or wrongful act are, both from fact and law, completely false, ” he had previously stated to PEOPLE. “We are going to strongly defend these lies and actually we are preparing a petition to dismiss the unfounded accusations against her.
We had been hearing news about Wondermind’s financial position previously. It was Forbes that revealed last May that the company couldn’t afford to even provide wages to employees. A spokesperson said to PEOPLE that Gomez was the one who came up with the money during that time.
“Selena gave countless millions for Wondermind to enable supporting her mom and a joint interest in mental health through a shared venture, so when Selena got notified of the recent financial blow, the same way she did not interfere in daily operations, she still quickly put her cash in,” the informant added. “To make sure that the business continues to develop, Mandy is the best person here; hence, she is lending her money in order to invest in the business of their choice.”
