Best friend denies being forced to donate kidney to Selena Gomez

Actress Francia Raísa has denied rumors that she was forced to donate a kidney to Selena Gomez in 2017.

On the Good Guys podcast on August 1, Francia Raísa talked about donating her kidney to Selena: “In my heart, I knew I was a match. I knew it was going to happen. No one forced me to do anything. It came from the true goodness of my heart and I’ve been blessed so much since then.”

Recently, there have been many rumors on the Internet that Francia Raísa did not actually volunteer to donate her kidney to Selena, but that she was put in a difficult situation to save her friend who was suffering from kidney failure due to lupus. However, Francia affirmed that the decision to donate her kidney was entirely her own. The How I Met Your Father actress said that she never imagined that the kidney donation would cause such a stir and turn into such a fabricated story on the Internet.

Regarding the rumor of a feud with Selena Gomez, Francia Raísa also frankly denied it.

In 2018, Francia Raísa spoke about her kidney donation in Self magazine . She said she wanted to tell Selena the news herself when she got the results of their compatibility test, but things didn’t work out that way. “One day, I got a call from Selena on FaceTime and she said, ‘You’re right for me!’” Francia said. “I wanted to have a way to tell her when I made the decision. I knew it would happen, it just took time.”

Francia also told how desperate Selena was when she was diagnosed with kidney failure, which made her not hesitate to go for testing to save her friend. “When she sat down on the floor and cried, I asked what happened, Selena replied: ‘I need a new kidney. I don’t know what to do, the waiting list is 7 to 10 years’. At that moment, the thought of donating a kidney popped into my head. I said: ‘I’ll go for a compatibility test’. I called Selena’s assistant without Selena’s knowledge to get the information and then everything happened.”

Francia Raísa and Selena Gomez underwent kidney transplants in the summer of 2017. They both suffered serious complications during the surgery but survived. After returning to good health, Selena revealed her kidney transplant on Instagram and praised her best friend’s sacrifice.

According to sources, a year after the surgery, the friendship between the two girls was in trouble. Francia was said to be upset when she saw Selena drinking, partying, and not caring about her health. At the end of 2018, Selena had a mental breakdown and had to go to psychological treatment and Francia Raísa made up with her friend.

However, late last year, Selena accidentally said in an interview with Rolling Stone that her “only close friend in the industry” was Taylor Swift. This upset Francia Raísa, who unfollowed Selena on Instagram.

Selena has been trying to reconcile with her friend lately. On Francia Raísa’s birthday on July 26, Selena posted a series of old intimate photos with her friend with the caption: “Happy birthday to someone special. No matter where life takes us, I will always love you, Francia Raisa.” A few days later, fans discovered that Francia Raísa had followed Selena Gomez back on Instagram.