Francia Raisa Says Kidney Donation to Selena Gomez Came From the ‘Kindness of My Heart’: ‘No One Forced Me’

“I just felt it in my heart, and I knew, I knew I was a match,” the actress said.

 

No, Francia Raisa wasn’t forced to donate her kidney to Selena Gomez — something the actress felt the need to clear up in the Aug. 1 episode of Josh Peck’s Good Guys podcast.

“Never in my life did I picture this,” Raisa began on the show, touching on the speculation that she and Gomez are no longer friends, or that the How I Met Your Father star was somehow forced to give up her kidney to the pop musician in 2017. “I know she and I both went public with our situation years ago … press got ahold of the story and we wanted to tell it.”

“I just felt it in my heart, and I knew, I knew I was a match,” she continued, reflecting on the organ donation process. “No one forced me to do anything. It came out of the genuine kindness of my heart.”

Raisa donated her kidney to Gomez six years ago after the Rare Beauty founder suffered organ damage caused by Lupus. However, the pair of friends seemed to drift apart in the years that followed.

Things came to a head last year when Raisa didn’t appear to take too kindly to a comment Gomez made in an interview with Rolling Stone, during which the singer-actress said Taylor Swift was just about her “only friend in the industry.”

“Interesting,” Raisa commented on a post sharing the quote, to which Gomez replied, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”

Since then, Raisa has faced an onslaught of hate comments from Gomez’s fans, not unlike the bullying Hailey Bieber says she faced earlier this year regarding her marriage to the “Lose You to Love Me” singer’s ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber. Gomez jumped on Instagram Stories in March to discourage fans from bombarding Hailey with negativity. And, just this week, Gomez seemed to squash feud rumors with Raisa by publicly wishing her happy birthday on Instagram, posting several photos of their friendship through the years.

Still, Raisa says she doesn’t like to read her social media comments because of how severe the negativity is. “I can’t read the comments because I don’t do well with that,” she told Peck. “I really don’t. People are so mean, and they hit you like, right there. Someone said, ‘Oh, you’re just looking for attention because your career is a flop.’ And I’m like, ‘Is it a flop?’ But guys, there’s no beef.”

Watch Francia’s Good Guys interview above.