Gomez, her mother Mandy Teefey and their former business partner were sued by investors earlier this week over their challenged mental health startup Wondermind
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NEED TO KNOW
- Selena Gomez’s litigator is denying claims of fraud, telling PEOPLE he plans to file a motion to dismiss the claims against her
- In a lawsuit filed earlier this week, investors alleged they were misled about Wondermind’s resources and leadership
- “The allegations that Selena Gomez engaged in any way whatsoever in any purported ‘fraud’ or other wrongdoing are completely meritless, both factually and legally,” her lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart tells PEOPLE
Selena Gomez is hitting back after she was accused of fraud by investors in the challenged company Wondermind, which she co-founded with her mother Mandy Teefey and their former business partner Daniella Pierson.
“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,” Gomez’s litigator, Mathew S. Rosengart, tells PEOPLE exclusively in a statement.
Earlier this week two companies — Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind LLC — sued Gomez, 34, Teefey, 50, and Pierson, 31, claiming they “falsely represented” the startup’s infrastructure, leadership and resources, according to legal docs obtained by PEOPLE.
The investors, who allegedly funneled nearly $1.2 million into the company, claim they were kept in the dark as it “quietly collapsed around them” and learned about Wondermind’s struggles last fall from a story in The Cut, which included allegations from anonymous former employees claiming Teefey was unfit to serve as CEO.
After Forbes reported last May that the company was struggling to pay its employees, a source told PEOPLE Gomez had taken action when she learned of the issue.
“Selena has invested millions of dollars over the years into Wondermind to support her mother and their shared passion for mental health, including when she was alerted about the most recent financial setback, and immediately invested more money as she’s not involved in the day-to-day operations,” said the source at the time. “To invest in the future of the company, Mandy has chosen to take the lead here with a personal loan to invest in the future of the company.”
Teefey has not commented on the lawsuit. In a statement to the The New York Times, Pierson — who served as co-CEO alongside Teefey — “categorically” denied the allegations.
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