Selena Gomez sued for alleged fraud over mental health company
Investors say the actor and singer did not take an "active role" in the company as promised.
Actress and singer Selena Gomez is facing a lawsuit from five investors who supported Wondermind Global, a mental health enterprise she co-founded with her mother.
The shareholders allege that the pop star did not uphold her commitments to be "actively building" the brand, asserting that her "abject dereliction of her duties" has plunged the company into a "state of financial calamity."
The lawsuit seeks to recover approximately $1.2 million (£890,000) in claimed investments, along with associated costs and damages.
The BBC has reached out to Wondermind and Gomez's representatives for comment.
Gomez, who gained prominence as a child actor before transitioning to pop music, established the mental health platform five years ago with her mother, Mandy Teefey, and businesswoman Daniella Pierson. This initiative followed Gomez's public discussions about her own mental health challenges, including bipolar disorder.
The 34-year-old is among the most-followed women globally on social media, boasting over 500 million followers, and has an estimated net worth approaching $1 billion. In 2020, she also launched the cosmetics company Rare Beauty, which is closely linked to her personal brand and image.
Wondermind's objective was to enhance the accessibility of mental health-related content through a digital platform, attracting investors to back the venture.
However, the lawsuit contends that Wondermind's founders "falsely represented" their position by suggesting that "a full slate" of advertising deals, celebrity cover stories, an app, and other initiatives were already in progress, and by promising Gomez would assume 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 Wondermind's website, positioned below her mother, who now serves as chief executive 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 that 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 materialized, 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 stated they were unaware of the company's difficulties until an investigative news story by the online magazine, The Cut, emerged in September 2025.
That report made allegations concerning Wondermind's finances and management issues, according to the lawsuit.
The article demonstrated that "Wondermind had no plan for its future - much less a plan for achieving a multi-billion dollar valuation," the lawsuit claims.