Selena Gomez’s Mom Had To Take Out A Loan & Risk Her House To Pay Employees — Despite Singer’s BILLIONAIRE Status! | HO
Selena Gomez’s mental health startup Wondermind ain’t so wonderful behind the scenes… At least when it comes to payroll.
Back in 2021, the Wizards of Waverly Place alum and her mother Mandy Teefey founded Wondermind, or as they describe it on the website, “the world’s first mental fitness ecosystem.” Its intention is to destigmatize conversations surrounding mental health online. However, a bombshell new report suggests it may be causing more harm than good. For its employees, at the very least!
Over the weekend, Forbes ran an article reporting the business is not only out of money, but is unable to pay its 15 employees — not including freelancers and vendors — for work dating all the way back to March! But it gets worse…
According to emails obtained by the outlet from the time, Mandy notified employees that their healthcare company was terminating their coverage! In the same email, she informed employees they’d have to enroll in COBRA coverage, which allows terminated employees or those with reduced hours to temporarily continue their plans. Furthermore, the outlet reported that because of the financial crisis, Mandy, the company’s CEO, was forced to take out a loan against her mortgage to pay back debts!
Holy s**t!
The 49-year-old reportedly informed employees of the move during a meeting held last Thursday. Affected workers have apparently been compensated for one of two missing paychecks, while freelancers and vendors are still waiting on six-figure payouts. One PR firm alone is reportedly owed $60k!
Oh goodness… This is BAD.
According to interviews with three anonymous Wondermind employees, real problems began around January 2023 when Mandy became the company’s sole CEO. According to two of the anonymous employees, Mandy does not possess the operational wherewithal to successfully run the brand, despite managing Selena’s career for years. They claim she’s turned down multi-million dollar brand deals in the past, one of which with Airbnb, that wanted Selena to be involved… But according to the employees, the pop star really doesn’t have much of an active role. She serves as the company’s Chief Impact Officer, but rarely comes around. One employee claimed:
“We have to fight with her agent to get her to do anything for us and she rarely does. And by ‘do anything’ I mean post something on Instagram or interview her for an article so it does good traffic.”
However, a company spokesperson denied the claim and argued her participation “speaks for itself.” The spokesperson also claims the company has since “rectified” the situation and that all parties who are owed money will be receiving it on Monday. They wrote in a statement:
“Like many startups, Wondermind has been working through its own set of growing pains. In the coming days we will be transitioning into a new chapter for Wondermind, and continuing our important work in mental fitness that helps hundreds of thousands of people.”
Mandy herself declined to comment, but Chief of Staff Emma Wright called allegations relating to the brand deals “insanely, grossly misleading.” She also claimed Mandy “[leads] with just pure grace,” adding:
“She has been singularly focused on keeping everyone’s livelihoods intact and keeping the company growing.”
The dire situation raises eyebrows at Selena, who has amassed a massive net worth through her acting jobs, singing career, and Rare Beauty brand. The exact number is unknown, but Forbes reports it to be somewhere in the $700 million range. Bloomberg, however, reports it’s closer to $1.3 billion… So, fans have begun to question why her mom has taken out a loan against her mortgage to pay employees when Selena, a founding member of the company, has access to such resources.
