Francia Raisa has received an apology from the producers of 'Saved by the Bell' after the show joked about Selena Gomez's kidney transplant
The rebooted version of the hit sitcom was widely criticised on social media over the weekend after an episode featured two characters speculating about Selena's donor, and although Francia - who donated her organ to her pal after she suffered complications from lupus - has been in touch with the makers of the programme, she's concerned the gag may have hurt other donors
2 December 2020
The 32-year-old actress said on her Instagram Story: "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. It's not about me, it's about acknowledging the great role that donors play (sic)"
During episode six of the reboot, two of the show's stars argued over who actually donated a kidney to Selena.
One of the actresses said: "I know for a fact that Selena Gomez’s kidney donor was Justin Bieber‘s mom. God, I wish that I had my phone so that I could prove it."
In response, the other said: "Prove what? That you’re an idiot? It was Demi Lovato‘s kidney. They’re best friends, like you and I were."
During another scene, the words "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?" are seen written on the walls.
The controversial scenes prompted the hashtag #RespectSelenaGomez to start trending on Twitter, with fans of the music star taking to the micro-blogging platform to express their anger.
The show’s ex ecutive producers, Peacock and NBCUniversal subsequently issued an apology.
They said in a statement: "We apologise. 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."
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