Selena Gomez has pushed back strongly against fraud allegations brought by investors in Wondermind, the mental health platform she co-founded with her mother five years ago.
Gomez’s lawyer, Matthew Rosengart, has asked a court to dismiss the claims against the singer and actress, describing the allegations as “threadbare” and arguing that she should never have been drawn into the case.
Five investors allege that they were defrauded of nearly $1.2 million they invested in Wondermind after being led to believe that Gomez would play a significant role in building the company.
According to the investors, they were told that Gomez, whom they described as “one of the most famous women on earth” with a billion-dollar brand and enormous social media reach, would actively build the company as its head of marketing.
But Rosengart rejected that account, arguing that the allegations against his client were “vague, generalised and contradictory.”
He said Gomez never agreed to manage Wondermind and did not make the commitments attributed to her by the investors.
“The claims against her are meritless if not frivolous,” Rosengart said.
He added that Gomez’s legal team was “exploring other avenues of relief for Ms. Gomez including sanctions against plaintiffs.”
The legal dispute has complicated what would otherwise have been a high-profile period for Gomez, whose social media presence continues to attract millions of fans and whose career spans music, film and television.
She is also preparing for the upcoming sixth season of Only Murders in the Building, in which the show’s podcasting detectives move their latest investigation to London.
While Gomez is seeking to distance herself from the allegations, the dispute has placed renewed attention on her business relationship with her mother and the governance of celebrity-backed ventures.
Gomez co-founded Wondermind with her mother and another partner, with the company positioned as a mental health platform.
Crisis public relations commentator Lauren Beeching, founder of Honest London, said celebrity businesses involving close family members can create particular risks because personal relationships and commercial responsibilities can become difficult to separate.
She pointed to successful family ventures involving the Jenner-Kardashian family and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams, but noted that other celebrity families, including the Beckhams and Britney Spears, have experienced difficulties where family relationships and business interests overlap.
“Working with close relatives, whether that’s a sibling or a parent, or someone else is almost always a higher risk approach.”
She argued that the trust inherent in family relationships could mean business arrangements do not receive the same scrutiny as conventional commercial partnerships.
“If you’re going into business [as a] family, I’d put more structure around it, not less, for sure.”
“Define everybody’s responsibilities, bring in independent oversight, and decide what happens if something goes wrong before something goes wrong. A family relationship shouldn’t be a company’s governance structure,”
Despite the potentially damaging headlines, Beeching said the dispute was unlikely to cause significant long-term damage to Gomez’s reputation.
“This will generate headlines because Selena Gomez is enormously famous, but I don’t think it’s the type of story her core audience is particularly interested in,” she said.
“There’s an important difference between generating negative headlines and causing lasting reputational damage.”
Gomez’s response nevertheless underscores the importance of protecting personal brands when celebrities attach their names to businesses.
Beeching advised celebrities to consider not only what their reputation can bring to a company, but also what the company could ultimately do to their reputation.
“Before lending your name to a company, don’t ask what your reputation could do for the business. Ask what that business can eventually do for your reputation as well.”
Erizia Rubyjeana
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