Selena Gomez has been accused of showing ingratitude to her one-time friend, Francia Raisa, for a series of recent acts that were seen as not fully appreciating Raisa’s “life-saving” gift when she famously donated her kidney to the pop singer in 2017.
Gomez found herself the target of criticism, first, because she failed to mention Raisa, a friend since 2007, when she said that Taylor Swift was “her only friend in the industry” during an interview with Rolling Stone, which was published Thursday. When the singer spoke about her circle of friends, Gomez didn’t mention Raisa, whom she once called her “sis.” Gomez said, “I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities. My only friend in the industry really is Taylor [Swift], so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong.”
Following the article’s publication, speculation broke out online that Gomez’s reference to Swift could be perceived as a dig against Raisa, a TV actor she first met when the two visited a children’s hospital together, Us Weekly reported.
Ten years after they met, Raisa provided the Disney Channel alum with what she once referred to as the “ultimate gift,” a donor kidney, amid her ongoing battle with lupus, an auto-immune disorder. The Rolling Stone cover story briefly mentioned Gomez’s kidney transplant, saying the six-hour surgery became a life-saving necessity after the organ manage to “flip itself over, causing grievous harm to an artery.” Raisa’s name was not mentioned in the article.
When Gomez’s quote about Swift was highlighted via Instagram, Raisa initially commented on the post writing, “Interesting,” Us Weekly said. The comment was then deleted. However, fans soon noticed that Raisa was not following Gomez on Instagram, a point highlighted over the weekend by social media personality Stephanie Tleiji on her @stephwithdadeets TikTok account.
Gomez, who also stars in the hit show, “Only Murders in the Building,” may have committed her most glaring act of apparent ingratitude with her response to Tleiji’s TikTok clip. She sounded annoyed that people questioned whether she was being rude to Raisa and clapped back, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”
Gomez only made things worse by relegating Raisa to the category of “every person I know,” as shown by people’s additional replies on Tleiji’s clip and elsewhere on social media.
She is the person who saved your life. She is not somebody.
— Christian E. Garcia (@ChrisEgarcia8) November 6, 2022
“She literally gave her a kidney, she a little more than ‘someone I know,'” one person wrote on a Popbase tweet about Gomez’s comment. Others similarly said, “Imagine donating your kidney to someone and then being referred to as ‘somebody I know.'”
One person went further by calling Gomez “evil”: “What a nasty evil woman, imagine saving someone’s life and they refer to you as just some random person they know,” the person said.
Raisa also was not mentioned in Gomez’s “My Mind and Me” documentary, which was released Friday on Apple TV+, despite the film covering the last six years of the singer and actor’s life, Us Weekly said. Directed by Directed by Alek Keshishian, “My Mind & Me” focuses Gomez’s battle with mental illness, including depression and bipolar disorder.
“I think it was so messed up (in) this documentary that she didn’t even highlight what Francia did for her. They completely ignored it,” someone wrote on Tleiji’s clip, in response to Gomez’s comment.
Someone else pointed out the potential health risks to being a kidney donor, by writing: “Coming from a transplant family (little brother & mom). Francia is in the right for this break. You’re literally running on 75% most days.”
Actually, the Mayo Clinic said that kidney donation has few long-term risks for generally healthy people, though it could slightly increase the chance of one day having kidney failure, and major surgery always comes with possible risks of bleeding and infection.
Back in 2017, Gomez was far more expressive in talking about her gratitude to Raisa after receiving the kidney. Gomez announced on Instagram that she had undergone a transplant and proudly posted a photo of her and Raisa, holding hands in the recovery room.
“So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my lupus and was recovering,” Gomez captioned her Instagram photo. “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.”
Gomez’s defenders in this controversy mainly pointed out that people were wrong to initially assume that Gomez was ignoring Raisa with her reference to Swift as her only friend “in the industry.” These defenders said that Gomez probably was being specific in talking about people in the “music industry.”
Others on social media said Raisa is an actor, so that means she’s part of “the industry,” meaning the larger entertainment industry. “Even so, she talked (about) her transplant but didn’t mention Francia,” one person said.
