Selena Gomez sued for alleged fraud over mental health company

Hollywood actress and singer Selena Gomez is being sued by five investors who backed Wondermind Global, a mental health business she founded with her mother.

Shareholders are claiming the pop star failed to fulfil promises that she would be "actively building" the brand, saying her "abject dereliction of her duties" has left the company in a "state of financial calamity".

The lawsuit seeks to recover around $1.2m (£890,000) it claims was invested as well as costs and damages.

The BBC has contacted Wondermind and Gomez's representatives for comment.

Gomez, who rose to fame as a child actor before moving into pop music, set up the mental health platform five years ago with her mother Mandy Teefey and businesswoman Daniella Pierson. It came after Gomez publicly discussed her own mental health struggles, including with bipolar disorder.

The 34-year-old is one of the most-followed women in the world on social media, with over 500 million followers, and an estimated net worth of nearly $1bn. She also founded cosmetics company Rare Beauty, in 2020, which is closely associated with her name and image.

Wondermind aimed to make mental health-related content more accessible through a digital platform, recruiting investors to back the venture.

But the lawsuit claims Wondermind's founders "falsely represented" their position by suggesting "a full slate" of ad deals, celebrity cover stories, an app and other initiatives were already underway and promising that Gomez would take an active role as its head of marketing.

"Gomez purported ‌to ⁠sign a contract obligating her to perform and then ignored it," the lawsuit claims.

Gomez is currently listed as a co-founder on Wonderminds website, below her mother who is now in the chief executive role, following Pierson's departure from the company.

The individuals behind the suit, based in New York and Florida, include Brent Saunders, chief executive of eye-health company Bausch + Lomb.

The claimants' lawsuit alleges Wondermind failed to meet "even its most basic obligations, such as timely paying its employees and vendors".

Promises including Wondermind's partnerships and app never materialised, according to the claim.

"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," the complaint states.

They said they were unaware of the company's difficulties until an investigative news story by the online magazine, The Cut, surfaced in September 2025.

That report made allegations about Wondermind's finances and issues with its management, according to the lawsuit.

The article showed that "Wondermind had no plan for its future - much less a plan for achieving a multi-billion dollar valuation," the lawsuit claims.