Francia Raisa responds to NBC's apology after 'Saved by the Bell' joked about Selena Gomez's kidney transplant
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Libby Torres
Dec 1, 2020, 00:28 IST
Francia Raisa (right) donated a kidney to friend Selena Gomez in 2017.Lester Cohen/Getty Images For Billboard
Francia Raisa responded to NBCUniversal's apology after the "Saved By the Bell" reboot made jokes about Selena Gomez's kidney transplant.
"Appreciate the apology but let's not forget about the donors that potentially felt offended and dismissed from the spray paint written on the wall," Raisa tweeted.
In a recent episode of the series, a student at the fictional Bayside High speculated about the validity of Gomez's 2017 transplant, as well as the identity of the donor.
And in another scene, graffiti on a wall appears to say, "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?"
"We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena's health," NBCUniversal and the show's executive producers said in a statement to Variety.
After the episode drew backlash on Saturday, Peacock, NBCUniversal, and the "Saved By the Bell" reboot's executive producers issued a statement to Variety.
"We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena's health," they said in the statement. "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."
Raisa, who donated her kidney to her friend Gomez in 2017, subsequently replied to NBCUniversal's apology on Twitter.
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"Appreciate the apology but let's not forget about the donors that potentially felt offended and dismissed from the spray paint written on the wall," the "Grown-ish" actress wrote.
Raisa opened up about her experience being Gomez's donor shortly after the pair underwent surgery in 2017.
"I am beyond grateful that God would trust me with something that not only saved a life, but changed mine in the process," the "Secret Life of the American Teenager" actress wrote in an Instagram post at the time.
She shared the same photo that Gomez used to make her announcement about her transplant — a picture of the two side-by-side in hospital beds, hooked up to machines as they hold hands and smile at each other.
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"This was part of our story, and we will share it soon," she wrote. "But what is important now is that this is not the only story."
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