Selena Gomez has spoken out against the CBS legal drama, "The Good Fight," for referencing her kidney transplant in a "tasteless" manner.
The episode in question aired last month. In one scene, some of the characters debate what topics they could and could not joke about, according to Yahoo! Entertainment. Gomez's transplant came about and it was decided that it was not laughing material.
Backlash ensued and soon "RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ" was trending. On Tuesday, the singer finally broke her silence on her Instagram Stories and called out the show for bringing her into the dialogue.
"I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently," she wrote. "I hope in the next writer's room when one of these tasteless jokes are presented it's called out immediately and doesn't make it on air."
Gomez also thanked her fans for their support and encouraged them to sign up to become organ donors.
"My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU," she added.
Gomez underwent a kidney transplant in 2017, but only revealed it later on Instagram, saying it was necessary due to her struggle with lupus.
"I’m very aware some of my fans had noticed I was laying low for part of the summer and questioning why I wasn’t promoting my new music, which I was extremely proud of," Gomez captioned a photo of herself lying in a hospital bed, holding hands with her friend and kidney donor Francia Raisa.
"So I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering," Gomez continued. "It was what I needed to do for my overall health."
In 2018, Raisa revealed in an interview with W Magazine that Gomez faced a life-threatening surgical complication almost immediately after her kidney transplant.
"She could have died," the actress said.
Raise recalled waking up from her donor surgery a few hours later to find a text from Gomez that said, "I’m really scared."
"My kidney was very active, and when it turned I broke an artery," Raisa quoted Gomez.
"They had to take her into emergency surgery and get a vein from her leg and build a new artery to keep my kidney in place."
In her Instagram post revealing the transplant, Gomez described how Raisa "gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney."
"I am incredibly blessed," she added.
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Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.