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Selena Gomez Speaks Out After 'The Good Fight' Episode Makes Light Of Her Kidney Transplant

Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for Global Citizen VAX LIVE

In a painfully ironic twist, an episode of The Good Fight that tackled "cancel culture" has been met with an abundance of backlash.

The fourth episode of the series' fifth season features a scene in which investigator Jay, played by Nyambi Nyambi, asks if there are any subjects which are simply "off-limits" for jokes.

Jim, played by Ifádansi Rashad, declares: "Selena Gomez's Kidney Transplant."

Fellow investigator Marissa, played by Sarah Steele, subsequently asks if they "can get canceled for even joking about being canceled".

The answer would seem to be yes.

In 2017, actress and singer Selena Gomez announced she had undergone a kidney transfer after being diagnosed with lupus.

She posted a photo of herself in her hospital bed, hand in hand with her donor, actor Francia Raisa.



Selena's fans, or "selenators," were not at all happy that The Good Fight would make a joke at the expense of someone's health, and made their displeasure known on Twitter.

As a result, RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ swiftly began trending.






Gomez herself also took to Twitter to express her disappointment that The Good Fight used her very personal experience as a joke.

"I'm not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing, but sadly it has apparently."
"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."

As alluded to in her tweet, this, rather surprisingly, isn't the first time Gomez's kidney transplant was used as a punchline on television.

An episode of the first season of the Saved By The Bell revival on Peacock made multiple jokes about Gomez's procedure.

One scene had two background actors arguing over whether Gomez's donor was Demi Lovato or Justin Bieber's mother, and another featured a wall spray painted with the question, "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?"

Fans were quick to express their disgust, resulting in NBC issuing a formal apology, while also removing the scene from the streaming platform, and making a donation to The Selena Gomez Fund for Lupus Research at USC.

Representatives from CBS and The Good Fight have yet to comment on the matter.

But Lopez's "Selenators" once again came en masse to applaud her classy response.




The support from her "Selenators" did not go unnoticed by Gomez, who expressed her gratitude on Twitter, while also promoting being an organ donor.


selena gomez