Taylor and Ashley were best friends for 13 years. It all went wrong when they trusted a psychic.

When Taylor Thomson and Ashley Richardson met in 2009, it was friendship at first sight. Thomson is an heiress to Canada's wealthiest family; Richardson designed social media campaigns.

Different worlds, but they just "got each other", Richardson told The Wall Street Journal.

Richardson soon became a core part of Thomson's world in Los Angeles.

Then everything fell apart. Publicly. Messily.

And it all started with an email from a psychic.

* * *

Money was never the thing between the two friends, despite Thomson's billions.

Richardson claims she was fiercely protective of her friend, side-eyeing anyone she thought might be using Thomson for her wealth.

Over time, the pair became inseparable.

When they lost a close friend in 2016, they became even tighter. During the pandemic, they even formed their own pod together.

But Richardson's social media work was drying up, and her anxiety was through the roof.

Then she discovered celebrity psychic Michelle Whitedove.

For $25 USD a month, Richardson subscribed to her newsletter but mostly ignored it.

Until spring 2021, when Whitedove recommended a crypto token called Persistence. She called it a "dark horse" that was going to "be a big dog".

"Get it and sit on it," the psychic advised, according to the WSJ.

Taylor Thomson is an heiress to Canada's wealthiest family. Image: Getty.

By the next month, Persistence's token XPRT had quadrupled from under $3 to $13. Richardson felt she was onto something.

That summer, Richardson mentioned it to Thomson, who consulted an astrologer and an intuitive for advice.

Richardson threw herself into crypto research, spending hours looking into blockchain trading. She invested tens of thousands of her own money and recommended it to friends.

Then she crossed a line she never thought she would: she got involved with Thomson's money.

With Richardson's help, Thomson invested more than $40 million.

Richardson told the WSJ she was spending up to 20 hours a day researching and trading for Thomson, taking instructions during marathon phone calls and endless messages.

But by mid-2022, the promised windfall never materialised. Richardson was unravelling from stress, turning to alcohol to cope. Then the crypto market crashed.

Persistence became virtually worthless.

After the collapse, both women lawyered up.

In 2022, Thomson hired a firm to recover her assets, claiming she'd lost more than $80 million in crypto trades associated with Richardson's involvement — often risky trades she claims she never authorised.

Richardson maintains she had permission for everything.

In 2023, Thomson sued Richardson and Persistence for at least $25 million, alleging they'd lied about the coin's potential to lure big investors. In hindsight, Thomson believes her once-friend took advantage of her and sold her a pitch of Persistence's potential that was too good to be true.

Richardson fired back, saying Thomson invested without any due diligence beyond consulting psychics.

The WSJ cites court documents which claim Richardson received a secret $780,000 kickback for bringing Thomson into the Persistence trades. However, she says she received nothing.

They reportedly settled in July for an undisclosed amount.

Taylor Thomson and Harald Orfenburger attend the Canadian Film Centre 2011 Gala and Auction at The Carlu. Image: Getty.

The legal row sent Richardson into a world of debt.

Today, Richardson reportedly lives in her childhood home, drives Uber to pay bills, has applied for food stamps, and can't afford pain medication for her dog. She's drowning in legal paperwork.

She tried to rebuild, attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and focusing on healing. But on her ex-partner's birthday last year, she relapsed and texted Thomson.

"Because of you, I have lost everything, and you decided to sue the person who had nothing left to lose," Richardson texted, according to the WSJ.

"I loved you more than anything."

The message turned ugly, "rich motherf***ing sociopathic bitch", before pleading with Thomson to "send your f***ing goons to take my life. Please, you have destroyed me."

Thomson never wrote back. They haven't spoken since 2022.

A spokesperson for Thomson shut down Richardson's claims, telling the WSJ, "Richardson has taken her bogus story to the media in an attempt to extract more money from Ms. Thomson".

Feature image: Ashley Richardson via the Wall Street Journal.