Selena Gomez’s legal representation says a new lawsuit alleging the star defrauded investors in her mental health star-up Wondermind is “completely meritless, both factually and legally.”
Lawyer Mathew S. Rosengart issued a statement to People on Saturday: “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.”
In a lawsuit filed Thursday by two companies, Wondermind SRS 44 LLC and Bespoke Wondermind LLC, Gomez, her mother Mandy Teefey and Wondermind co-founder Daniella Pierson were accused of defrauding investors in the mental health startup, alleging the trio made false representations of the business to stakeholders, including a plan that Gomez would be “intimately involved” in the business’s operations. The suit claims damages of around $1.2 million.
“Gomez purported to sign a contract obligating her to perform and then ignored it,” the lawsuit read. “The partnerships did not exist. The initiatives never materialized. The app was never built. And for three years, while the Company quietly collapsed around them, not one of its founders, officers or directors said a word to the investors whose money was funding the collapse.”
Gomez, Teefey and Pierson first launched Wondermind in 2021 as “a space to work it all out every day with candid conversations, physical tools, daily content, and a supportive community.” In the lawsuit, investors claim that they did not learn about alleged management issues or struggles at the company – like employees not being paid on time – until The Cut reported on the startup’s working conditions last year.
Along with the statement from Gomez’s lawyer, Teefey too denied the allegations contained in the lawsuit, giving a statement Friday to the New York Times.
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