Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa Amanda Edwards/WireImage
Francia Raisa is reflecting on donating one of her kidneys to longtime friend Selena Gomez.
After she was asked by host Robert Peterpaul what she considers her “biggest act of kindness” during the Monday, April 22, episode of his “The Art of Kindness” podcast, the How I Met Your Father star, 35, had a simple reply.
“Besides donating a kidney, what?” she said. “It was definitely a personal choice. It was definitely just an act of kindness no matter what the rumors are.”
Gomez, 31, shared in September 2017 that she needed a kidney transplant amid her ongoing battle with lupus, an autoimmune disease that can affect many parts of the body, including the joints and vital organs like the kidneys, brain, heart and more, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa have been friends since meeting in 2007. At the time, they had no idea they would forever be intertwined after Raisa donated her kidney to Gomez, who suffers from lupus. “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate […]
“I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of,” she wrote via Instagram at the time. “So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering. It was what I needed to do for my overall health.”
She added, “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.”
While Raisa has been open about her organ donation over the years, she told Peterpaul that she’s experienced backlash from social media users; however, the negativity from fans hasn’t gotten her down.
“People are always just gonna look for something negative,” she continued. “I put myself in a position where people are interested in my personal life – I wish that wasn’t so crazy. Sometimes people need a distraction from their own life. If I’m that distraction, I guess I just have to be grateful that people care about my feelings. Yeah, it was something I just did because I really felt called to do it and I’ve been blessed since.”
Celebrity feuds are so captivating that there’s even an award-winning Ryan Murphy anthology TV series devoted to the topic. While some A-list beefs seem inevitable — Nicki Minaj vs. Cardi B, for example, or Jef Holm vs. Arie Luyendyk Jr. — others seem to come out of nowhere. Freddie Prinze Jr., for instance, spoke ill […]
Raisa and Gomez became friends after meeting at a children’s hospital in 2007. Though they remained close through the years, rumors of a feud between the pair began swirling after the Only Murders in the Building star told Rolling Stone in November 2022 that Taylor Swift is her “only friend” in the industry.
After the quote went viral, Raisa seemingly reacted to the comment, writing “interesting” under a post talking about Gomez’s interview and unfollowing the Rare Beauty founder on Instagram.
Gomez later defended herself via TikTok, writing, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”
The duo appeared to patch things up by July 2023 after Gomez wished the Grown-ish star a happy 35th birthday via Instagram.
In December of that year, Raisa addressed the alleged feud in an interview with USA Today.
From Barney to Disney Channel star and beyond! At a young age, Selena Gomez became a household name and continues to push the status quo in the entertainment industry as the years go by. In the middle of her booming career, Gomez suffered a few personal setbacks including a lupus diagnosis, life-changing transplant surgery and […]
“I don’t know why the timing happened the way it did, but I remember being in St. Tropez in June and I kept talking about her. We hadn’t spoken much in six years. Especially [in] the last year, we didn’t speak at all,” Raisa told the outlet.
She continued: “We’ve never really had beef with each other. Nothing happened, and if you ask either of us, we don’t know what happened but we needed that time apart. Then when you come back together, you’re better people. She and I are still getting to know each other again.”
