After receiving hurtful messages online, Selena Gomez's mom, Mandy Teefey, has slammed back at the haters. Teefey responded to the comments about her weight and explained how she was diagnosed with an illness that nearly took her life.
The hurtful messages came after the mother-daughter duo appeared on the cover of Entrepreneur magazine. Alongside them, was Forbes 30 under 30 businesswoman, Daniella Pierson. The three teamed up to create "Wondermind," a mental health fitness company.
The focus of the platform is to remove the societal stigma surrounding mental health issues. The trio bonded over their own respective struggles, “It’s one of the moments I felt closest to my mom — us coming together to talk about something we each have experienced in our own manner. It was wonderful. And then to be understood by Daniella was even better.”
Gomez has never been one to shy away from publicly voicing her opinion regarding the harmful effects social media can have. The Disney star had previously deleted her account on Instagram, even though at the time she was the most followed user. The Only Murders in the Building star described how Instagram, "would just make me feel like, 'Wow, um, I’m a piece of sh*t. And I don’t look that good and I don’t feel that good.'"
Her mom experienced a similar situation after the magazine cover was released. Teefey posted a screenshot of her private DM's and shared it on her Instagram account. A follower had told her she needed to lose weight. The "Wondermind" co-founder said she knew people would criticize her appearance. "I was told I had days to live," she continued, I gained 60ibs plus inflammation from the infection," Teefey explained. The 13 Reasons Why producer said she continued to fight because of the love and support she received from her family and friends. Following the screenshot, the mental health advocate included two selfies of her time in the hospital.
But, throughout her battle with double pneumonia, Teefey never gave up on creating "Wondermind." She explained why, "I've battled mental health since I was a child and took me decades to realize the right support and tools I can live with... we wanted to create an ecosystem for anybody and everybody to have access to these tools."
"Wondermind" will be released in 2022. In the meantime, the company's social media page has the option to sign up for the anticipated waitlist.
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