Selena Gomez's BFF, Kidney Donor Francia Raisa Responds To 'Saved By The Bell' Reboot Controversy

KEY POINTS

Francia Raisa said some of the cast and producers of the "Saved by the Bell" reboot apologized to her
Selena Gomez's BFF asked the network to acknowledge the donors who might have been offended as well
Raisa reminded everyone that the issue was not about her but the organ donors

Selena Gomez's best friend and kidney donor Francia Raisa broke her silence following the controversial episode on the "Saved by the Bell" reboot that seemed to make light of Gomez's kidney transplant.

Raisa took to Instagram to respond to the backlash that NBCUniversal and Peacock received following the controversial episode. She also announced that some of the producers and cast apologized to her.

"Some of the cast and producers have reached out to me personally to apologize for this and I truly appreciate that, but I do want to acknowledge that this public apology from the network should acknowledge the donors that could have been offended by this," she wrote in her Instagram Story.

"It's not about me, it's about acknowledging the great role that donors play @nbc @peacocktv #savedbythebell," she added.

NBCUniversal and Peacock have already made a public apology. They released a statement about the issue and promised to donate to Gomez’s charity.

"We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena’s health. We have been in touch with her team and will be making a donation to her charity, The Selena Gomez Fund for Lupus Research at USC," they said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Gomez has not made any statement about the incident yet.

NBCUniversal and Peacock were in hot water after an episode on the "Saved by the Bell" reboot showed two Bayside High students speculating about Gomez's kidney donor. One said that her donor was Justin Bieber's mom. Meanwhile, the other said it was her former BFF Demi Lovato.

In a separate scene, the episode featured one of the school walls with graffiti that read, "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?”

Many were offended by the episode because they felt that it made light of Gomez’s health condition. The “Rare” singer had to undergo a kidney transplant due to Lupus. Also, Gomez’s fans didn’t feel that it was right for the show to speculate about her donor because the singer-actress has been very open about it.

Gomez shared a photo of her and Raisa on hospital beds in 2017 following the surgery on her Instagram. She then thanked her BFF for her “ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me.”