World enews: Francia Raisa clarifies she wasn’t ‘forced’ to donate her kidney to Selena Gomez

Francia Raisa has spoken out about her friendship with Selena Gomez, with the actress clarifying that she wasn’t “forced” to donate her kidney to the singer.

Raisa, 35, reflected on her 2017 kidney donation amid Gomez’s battle with lupus during a recent appearance on the Good Guys podcast. Speaking to hosts Josh Peck and Ben Soffer, Raisa recalled how the medical procedure felt like the right thing for her to do.

“I’ve said this before, but that was a time where I just felt it in my heart,” she said. “I knew I was a match. I knew it was going to happen.”

Raisa emphasised that she was the one who chose to donate her kidney, adding: “No one forced me to do anything. It came out of the genuine kindness of my heart, and I’ve been super blessed ever since.”

Gomez and Raisa first became friends in 2007, after meeting in a hospital. 10 years later, the Bring It On: All or Nothing star went on to donate her kidney to her friend, who was diagnosed with lupus in 2014.

The Grown-ish star first opened up about becoming Gomez’s donor one year after donating her kidney. During a 2018 interview with Self, she confessed that she wasn’t the one who got to tell her pal that she was a match. However, according to Raisa, she still knew that she wanted to donate the organ.

“When I found out I was a match, it wasn’t in the way I’d expected. One day I got a phone call from Selena, a FaceTime, and she’s like: ‘You’re a match!” she recalled. “I had a way that I wanted to tell her when I made the decision. I knew it was going to happen, I just needed time.”

Meanwhile, the Only Murders in the Building star has also opened up about her relationship with Raisa after the kidney donation. In a March episode of Apple TV Plus’s documentary series Dear…, Gomez explained how the How I Met Your Father star offered to donate her kidney.

“My best friend. Her name is Francia. She said: ‘No, I am absolutely getting tested,’” the Disney Channel alum recalled. “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.”

Gomez added that Raisa “not even second-guessing [being] a donor” was “unbelievably overwhelming” and that she will “never ever, ever be more in debt to a person than Francia”.

Raisa’s recent comments about the kidney donation also come after she shut down ongoing speculation that she’s feuding with Gomez. When asked if she’d been in touch with the actor during an interview with TMZ on 27 July, she initially laughed off the question.

However, she then clarified that she is still on good terms with her longtime friend, saying: “There’s no beef, guys.”

Gomez has also appeared to dispel the feud rumours, as she shared a birthday tribute to Raisa on Instagram on 26 July. “Happiest of birthdays to this special human being. No matter where life takes us, I love you,” she wrote in the caption of the post, which featured a carousel of images of the pair.

While there’s no feud between the two pals now, they were first rumoured to have fallen out in November, after Gomez called Taylor Swift her “only friend in the industry” during an interview with Rolling Stone.

After fans were quick to question if Gomez’s comment was a dig at Raisa, the Secret Life of the American Teenager star shared her thoughts on the topic when she took to the comments under an Instagram post about Gomez’s remark and wrote: “Interesting”

However, the “Wolves” singer went on to clarify her remarks when she commented on a TikTok video: “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”

In May, Raisa appeared to address the alleged rumours when she called for an end to the “pretty bad” comments she’d received from the “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s fans.

“Now I’m being bullied like crazy. It’s not good at all. It’s not fun either,” she said, during an interview with TMZ at the time.

“The only thing I’m going to say is in no way, shape or form does anyone condone bullying, especially Selena. She literally has a whole nonprofit dedicated to mental health, and I believe Rare Beauty even just had an event for mental health,” she added, referring to Gomez’s Rare Impact Fund.