Selena Gomez's mother responds to trolls over parenting claims

Selena Gomez's mother, Mandy Teefey, has spoken out after facing criticism on social media, defending her parenting and her long-standing commitment to mental health advocacy.

The 50-year-old, who shares Selena, 34, with ex-husband Ricardo Joel Gomez and daughter Gracie, 13, with husband Brian Teefey, responded after an Instagram user accused her of "tearing down" her daughters and neglecting their mental health.

According to Us Weekly, Teefey shared – before later deleting – a screenshot of her response, in which she rejected the allegations and reflected on her own experiences with mental health.

"Thank you for explaining the mental health concerns for my family," she wrote. "I haven't spent my entire life and every dime I have made to help make change for people with mental health. I haven't lost many, many loved ones to the end of the battle. I have fought these internal wars you speak of. I have survived my mental health struggles since I was 14 years old."

Teefey went on to defend her parenting, saying outsiders were not in a position to judge her family.

"You have zero right to tell me how to live my life or how to handle my war zones. No one parents perfectly, and people judge people all day on their choices, so you can think I'm a bad parent. You aren't here. You weren't raised by me," she wrote.

She also urged people to stop directing hate towards others online and instead focus on supporting those around them.

"What have you done today to make someone's day better?" she asked. "I'm not the problem. Hate is."

In a caption accompanying the now-deleted post, Teefey said she did not need validation as a parent because she knows how deeply she loves and supports her children.

She added that criticism directed at her also affects the people she has spent years advocating for through her work in the mental health community.

Mandy and Selena co-founded the mental health media company Wondermind with entrepreneur Daniella Pierson in 2021.

Earlier this year, after former employees raised concerns about her leadership, Teefey dismissed the allegations in an interview with The Cut, saying they came from "a few disgruntled employees" spreading false claims.