Francia Raisa Reflects On Selena Gomez's Kidney Transplant Remarks
Francia Raisa is finally opening up about the Saved By the Bell reboot remarks. Yes, the 32-year-old actress opened up about the criticism received by the Saved by the Bell reboot and noted that there might be donors offended because of the aired content.
The show targeted Selena Gomez regarding the kidney transplant that took place in 2017. The 28-year-old actress and singer have been fighting with lupus when her friend Raisa donated her the kidney.
In fact, the Wizards of Waverly Place star flaunted her transplant scar on social media in September along with an emotional message. The actress confessed in the message that initially, she was trying to hide the scar, but now, she doesn't feel like covering it anymore.
Gomez further said that she feels more confident as a person and the journey she went through. However, the new series shared a couple of scenes that offended the singer's fans.
In one of the scenes, two students are shown discussing who was the donor of Gomez’s transplant at Bayside High, while in another scene, there is clearly written “does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?” on the walls in the hallway.
After the show received major backlash on social media, Raisa took Twitter to reflect on the NBCUniversal, Peacock, and the executive producers’ apologies received. The actress noted that some producers and cast members of the show have reached out to her personally to apologize.
While Raisa said that she truly appreciates their private messages of regret, she wants the network to apologize publicly as many other donors might have felt offended because of this. Following the backlash received on Nov. 28, NBCUniversal, Peacock, and the show's executive producers issued a public statement to apologize. Moreover, they disclosed their donation towards the research of lupus.
As per the statement obtained, they will be donating an undeclared amount to The Selena Gomez Fund for Lupus Research at USC and said that they had no intention to mock Selena's health. Gomez previously shared about her battle with lupus.
However, she revealed about the kidney transplant in September 2017 from Raisa. She shared a picture holding hands with her friend along with a couple of pictures of her stomach after the surgery. After one month of her surgery, the actress disclosed that her kidneys were almost done while she had no intention to ask anyone for help. However, it was her friend who volunteered for it.