The actress donated a kidney to Gomez in 2017 amid her battle with lupus.
Francia Raisa is speaking out against the Saved by the Bell reboot's joke about Selena Gomez's kidney transplant. On Saturday, Raisa -- who donated one of her kidneys to Gomez in 2017 amid her battle with lupus -- shared her thoughts on the scene.
"Some of the cast and producers have reached out to me personally to apologize for this and I truly appreciate that, but I do want to acknowledge that this public apology from the network should acknowledge the donors that could have been offended by this," Raisa wrote on her Instagram Story. "It's not about me, it's about acknowledging the great role that donors play @nbc @peacocktv #savedbythebell."
The Saved by the Bell scene sees one character say, "I know for a fact that Selena Gomez's kidney donor was Justin Bieber's mom. God, I wish that I had my phone so that I could prove it.
"Prove what? That you’re an idiot? It was Demi Lovato's kidney. They’re best friends, like you and I were," another character replies.
In another scene, graffiti reading, "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?" is shown on the wall at Bayside High.
As Gomez described in 2017, her kidney transplant was a matter of life or death. "My kidneys were just done. That was it, and I didn't want to ask a single person in my life…That was the day I came home and I found out. And [Raisa] volunteered and did it," she told the Today show. "I guess I got to a point where it was really life or death."
Gomez's fans took to social media over the weekend to slam the show for the joke -- and Peacock, NBC Universal and the show’s executive producers apologized in a statement to ET.
"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.
See more on Saved by the Bell in the video below.
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