Selena Gomez referred to Francia Raisa as her “best friend,” and stated that she will never be more “in debt” to anyone else because she gave her kidney.
In the Apple TV+ docuseries “Dear…,” Gomez opens up about her struggle with lupus, an autoimmune disease affecting some 1.5 million people in America, according to the Lupus Foundation. In 2017, she said her health took a turn for the worse when she required a kidney transplant due to complications from the disease.
Around that time Raisa, an actor, who has reportedly been friends with Gomez for years, famously donated a kidney to Gomez.
“In my early twenties, my lupus got really bad and it was now attacking my kidneys intensely,” Gomez said in the Apple+ docuseries. “I was terrified for my life completely.”
Gomez said she understood that there were “crazy waiting lists” of others in need of a kidney transplant.
“My best friend. Her name is Francia. She said, ‘No, I am absolutely getting tested,'” recalled Gomez as she spoke about her journey with the autoimmune disease. “And within three days, she went to get tested, and she was a match. And it was one of those moments where I felt watched over. I know I was so so so lucky.”
“I will never ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia,” she added. “The idea of someone not even second-guessing to be a donor was unbelievably overwhelming.”
Gomez’s most recent remarks regarding her friendship with Raisa are the first since she came under fire on social media for calling Taylor Swift her “sole friend in the industry” in a Rolling Stone profile last November.
After the article went online, E! News posted a graphic to Instagram featuring a photo of best friends Gomez and Swift accompanied by the quote.
Raisa then reportedly commented “interesting” on the E! News post before quickly deleting it, according to a screenshot obtained by Pop Crave. Raisa then appeared to unfollow Gomez on Instagram. She does not follow Gomez as of Saturday, while Gomez does appear to follow her.
Gomez later responded to a TikTok speculating about her relationship with Raisa.
“Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know,” the popstar commented about her friendship with Raisa, who is starring in “How I Met Your Father” on Hulu.
