Raisa donated a kidney to Gomez in 2017.
Francia Raisa's biggest act of kindness was providing her friend, Selena Gomez, with a better quality of life after an illness.
In the latest episode of The Art of Kindness podcast, Raisa opens up about her decision to donate her kidney to the Only Murders in the Building star in 2017 following her battle with lupus.
When asked by host Robert Peterpaul what she considered to be her biggest act of kindness, Raisa couldn't think of anything bigger than donating an organ.
"Besides donating a kidney, what?," she quips. "It was definitely a personal choice. It was definitely just an act of kindness no matter what the rumors are."
Gomez made the reveal that Raisa donated one of her kidneys to her in an emotional post that shows them lying in hospital beds following the surgery.
"There aren't words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis," Gomez said on Instagram at the time.
Shortly after the surgery, Raisa and Gomez sat down together and opened up about the "life-saving" surgery.
In the years that have followed, Raisa shares that there has been backlash and a lot of negativity surrounding her choice to donate the kidney to Gomez amid rumors of a broken friendship.
"Listen, we experience it with every hero in the world. I'm sure there was bad stuff written about Martin Luther King after he passed. People are always just gonna look for something negative," she says on the podcast.
"I put myself in a position where people are interested in my personal life -- I wish that wasn't so crazy. Sometimes people need a distraction from their own life. If I'm that distraction, I guess I just have to be grateful that people care about my feelings. Yeah, it was something I just did because I really felt called to do it and I've been blessed since."
She adds, "My first audition was two weeks after surgery was Grown-ish and I booked it. I've just been on my own journey ever since. It definitely did a lot for me. My favorite thing is I'm able to talk to other donors."
Last year, rumors of a feud began to circulate after Gomez named Taylor Swift as a "friend in the industry" and not Raisa during a Rolling Stone interview. Raisa took to the comments of a social media post and wrote "interesting" in response. Gomez reacted to the quote in the comments section of a TikTok video about the controversy, writing, "Sorry I didn't mention every person I know."
However, the two stars have reconciled their relationship, with Gomez taking to social media to celebrate Raisa's birthday.
In December 2023, the Secret Life of the American Teenager star talked about repairing her relationship with Gomez, whom she hadn't spoken to in about six years, and how she didn't regret her decision to give her a kidney.
"She and I are still getting to know each other again," she told USA Today. "And obviously, you know, I gave the girl a kidney so everyone felt a certain way and I was asked for years and years and years, 'Do you regret it?' and I was like, 'No, the relationship has always been there.' There was just a tiff."
In 2022, Gomez spoke to ET about her decision to be candid about the kidney transplant, her illness and mental health in her My Mind & Me documentary.
"In a weird way, I feel like it is a time capsule of things -- a period of my life where I look back, and I actually feel bad for that version of myself," Gomez explained at the time. "I think that it was good for me to see how I was responding to my body, the way that I was acting and the way it was so irrational in moments, and I think it was really healing for me to see that and get it out."
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