Embed from Getty Images
This story has a bit of back story to it. In 2017, the actress Francia Raísa donated a kidney to her friend Selena Gomez, since Selena’s had stopped working because of lupus. They’ve been friends for a long time and it’s really touching that Francia did that for Selena. Then in 2022, Selena made a comment in a Rolling Stone interview about her “only friend in the industry” being Taylor Swift. Francia was hurt by that and made a cryptic comment on Instagram which was then deleted. Selena had to clarify what she meant but her response still came off backhanded; she commented “sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.” I don’t think Selena was trying to diss Francia in the interview with her original remarks, but I also see why Francia got hurt by it all. She’s in the same “industry” as Selena is and made a huge sacrifice for her, and the quote made it seem as if she didn’t consider Francia a friend. This is coming back into the news cycle now because Selena wished Francia happy birthday on Instagram. Her caption is really sweet and she says “I love you.” So they are on good terms again. Francia talked on the Good Guys podcast about the process of donating her kidney to Selena and how it felt fated for her. Once she knew they were a match, she knew it had to happen. People also reach out to her and ask for advice before they donate a kidney themselves. She seems like a lovely person.
How Francia felt about donating her kidney to Selena: “I’ve said this before, I felt it in my heart…I knew I was a match, I knew it was going to happen. No one forced me to do anything. It came out of the genuine kindness of my heart. And I’ve been super blessed ever since.”
Later in the interview, Josh asked Francia about the procedure itself and her mental state going into the whole thing. “I was so calm, I had this crazy calmness. It was wild,” she explained. “The tests were a lot, it was hard. But the entire time, I was just like, I just feel like I have to do this. The minute I found out we were a match, I was like, yeah, this is happening.”
Her body went into shock after surgery: She also explained how her body reacted to the surgery and how she’s felt since. “I lost something that my body didn’t need to lose, so your body ultimately goes into shock,” she said. “I’m still working on that, I didn’t do the proper things I probably should have done afterwards so I still feel a little bit of it.”
People reach out to her before they donate kidneys: One thing she’s gained from going through the surgery is that she’s now able to be a support system to anyone else who’s about to undergo a similar procedure. “That’s the cool thing about this whole experience, I actually do talk to a lot of people before they go into surgery,” she said. “I now have knowledge about this, and I’m a walking success story. I feel better than I did before. I actually take care of myself better than I did before. I’m in the best shape I’ve ever been in.”
I like Selena a lot, and I admire her openness about mental health. You can tell that her advocacy on the subject runs deep and that it’s very important to her. That being said, I also think she can be messy sometimes and creates drama where there doesn’t need to be any. As someone who recently evaded a Difficult Conversation by getting up and leaving a restaurant through the kitchen, I’m just as guilty of that as anyone else. (I am friends with the people who own/operate the restaurant, by the way. I’d never take such liberties otherwise.) Game recognizes game. Anyway, Francia comes across as so generous and sweet. I’m glad she and Selena have been able to patch things up. It would be so sad if they weren’t friends after all they’ve experienced together.
Selena seems to be the person who wants to dish and when takes it, leaves Instagram cause it’s “toxic”.
It’s not that Selena doesn’t “consider her a friend”, it’s that she doesn’t consider her in the same (A-list) “industry”.
Which Francia is most certainly not.
That was my first thought. I can understand that Francesca didn’t come to Selena’s mind when she was thinking of pop stars with similar careers who were close to her. And I can also see how Francesca would be hurt by that!
Sometimes things come out wrong without anyone having bad intentions.
I think the same.
She was probably thinking: “Out of all the famous ones…”
Still, after the response, she could have corrected herself. Saying “sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.” about the woman who gave you a kidney is not it. It’s not someone she met a few times at a party.
I generally like Selena, but this wasn’t it.
I’m more interested in why you left through the kitchen than in the story!
I always thought Selena could have cleared things up quickly with a, “Francia isn’t a friend, she’s family, but I should have mentioned her, too.” If someone gave me a vital organ, they’d be family.
Was thinking the same thing.
Assuming there was some drama between them after the surgery, I do wonder if that’s common. I can see a lot of feelings coming up after a surgery like that which are complicated and probably unexpected, and I can totally see how that would change the dynamic in a relationship. While I don’t need to know the details of their relationship, if it’s relatively common for there to be weird feelings/difficulty in the relationship later I hope that people are made aware of that before the fact.
Francia’s father said in an interview that her and Selena stopped talking when Francia became concerned about Selena’s drinking. She gave her a kidney and wanted Selena to take good care of it.
I had heard that too and can totally see that being difficult to watch after the fact. I can’t imagine this is the first relationship where the donor is frustrated to see the donee’s behavior after surgery, so I hope they were given adequate counseling and expectations in advance of making such a big decision.