Selena Gomez and Her Mom Come Under Fire for Allegations of Mismanagement at Their Mental Health Startup Up
In 2022, Selena Gomez, her mom, Mandy Teefey, and entrepreneur Danielle Pierson teamed up to found Wondermind, a mental health startup. The company aimed to provide various ways for people to discuss their mental health without a high price point. While the company’s intentions are good, employees have come forward to say that they’ve failed to follow through on them due to mismanagement by Gomez and Teefey.
Selena Gomez and her mom started Wondermind in 2022
Both Gomez and Teefey have been open about their struggles with mental health in the past. Gomez said that because of this, she wanted to help destigmatize talking about mental health.
“Once I understood what was happening in my mind, I gained a sense of purpose,” she told Entrepreneur Magazine in 2021. “Anything I’m a part of — whether it’s with Puma or another deal — has to have an element that’s charitable or in the mental health space.”
She said her mom has always encouraged her to use her platform to help others.
“Something I’ve always tried to do in my career is make sure I lend my voice to places where it matters,” she said. “And I have to give my mom credit for that because she taught me everything.”
They partnered with Pierson, the founder of women’s media company The Newsette, to launch Wondermind. Teefey said their goal was to provide tools for anyone seeking support.
“We want to offer the tools I was offered in a facility that cost $1,500 a day,” Teefey said. “Thank God my insurance covered it, but not everybody has access to that.”
Employees have alleged that Selena Gomez and her mom were not properly running the company
In 2023, employees said Teefey informed them that the company was in dire financial straits. They claimed that because they struggled to obtain funding, Gomez and Teefey donated $8 million to keep them afloat.
“I’m carrying the entire company,” one employee remembers Teefey saying, as told to The Cut. “If the company went down, me and Selena will be fine. But none of you will be fine. I’m doing this to make sure you all have f***ing jobs.”
In March, however, Teefey told employees that they would not be paid on time and would be losing their insurance. Though the payment issue was quickly resolved, it happened again at the end of April. Employees claimed Teefey did not have the skills to run a company.
“She’s a creative and has big ideas,” said one staffer. “If she had had the wherewithal to be like, ‘Hey, let’s hire a CEO, and why don’t I take an advisory role?’ that would have been great.”
They said that when Teefey was in the office, she watched TV for hours at a time and let food delivery containers pile up. They also alleged that she used Ritalin and liquid Benadryl with frequency. When she wasn’t in the office, employees say they struggled to get a hold of her.
“Mandy would disappear for weeks,” said another employee. “She wouldn’t respond at all.”
While Teefey was far more present at the company than her daughter, some staffers described Gomez as “just as culpable” for the company’s struggles. They claimed she did not seem interested in the company, which made it difficult for them to capitalize on her level of celebrity. They also said that she should have recognized that Teefey could not run the company.
“If I had seen my mom in that state,” one employee said, “I would have intervened. I would say, ‘This isn’t right.’”
Mandy Teefey has denied the allegations
Teefey has pushed back against her employees’ claims. She denied snorting Ritalin and said she was never gone for weeks at a time. While she conceded she does “cancel meetings a lot, given it being a busy startup lifestyle,” absences from the office were the result of COVID-19.
She added that the statements from former employees are baseless and unfair.
“I started Wondermind because I wanted to help people with mental illness,” she said. “It’s unfortunate that a few disgruntled employees with an ax to grind can spread lies about me and distort the truth. Even more disappointing that the media is willing to amplify their lies.”
How to get help: To connect with mental health resources near you, visit the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) website.
