Selena Gomez’s fans to the rescue. The ex-Disney Channel star’s followers slammed Paramount+ series “The Good Fight” over its joke about kidney transplants.
The 29-year-old’s fans took to Twitter to raise havoc over the legal drama’s references to her health battles.
In Season 5, Episode 4, a conversation between characters Marissa (Sarah Steele), Jay (Nyambi Nyambi) and Jim (Ifádansi Rashad) about comedy and cancel culture arises. In the show, Jay explained that nowadays, it feels like one “[needs] a permission slip to tell a joke.” Jim then proceeds to print out some jokes. Jay then asked if there are any contentious topics that were banned. “Um, necrophilia?” Jim answered back. “No, that could be funny,” Marissa chimed in. “Autism,” Jay added.
“Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant,” Jim continued. After the scene aired, Gomez’s fans began tweeting statements such as, “When will people stop doing this !!! RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ!”
Many users followed suit and kept repeatedly tweeting the phrase, “RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ!” Another fan added, “So we’re usin Selena’s kidney transplant as a trend? Multiple times has this happened in media, it needs to stop. #RespectSelenaGomez.”
The “Lose You To Love Me” singer revealed in September 2017 that she stepped out of the limelight to undergo a kidney transplant to help treat her lupus. Friend and fellow actress Francia Raisa graciously donated her kidney at the time.
“The Good Fight” isn’t the only show to make fun of Gomez’s health issues. In November 2020, Peacock’s “Saved By the Bell” revival showed teens discussing the Texas native’s kidney donors. One scene also featured a graffiti message that read, “Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?” Following the episode’s backlash, the show’s executive producers, as well as Peacock and their parent company, NBCUniversal issued an apology.
“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 to Variety.