Selena is one of the many celebrities who are very open about their health. Recently, the singer’s kidney transplant in 2017 was brought up in an episode of Paramount+’s The Good Fight. She received the transplant following her battle with Lupus.
The Rare Beauty founder took to Twitter and Instagram on August 3 to address the issue by sharing, “I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently.” She added, “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.”
I am 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.
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) August 3, 2021
Moreover, Selena thanked her fans for defending her. She concluded her post by writing, “My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU,” she concluded.
The issue started when during the fourth episode of the fifth season, Del (Wayne Brady), a comedy streaming exec, asked Liz (Audra McDonald) to come up with a sensitivity read to be given to one of his comedians. This led them to talk about comedy and cancel culture among Jim (Ifádansi Rashad), Jay (Nyambi Nyambi) , and Marissa (Sarah Steele).
Jay told them that nowadays you “need a permission slip to tell a joke” which brought up off-limits topics.
Jim asked, “Um, necrophilia?” and Marissa replied, “No, that could be funny.”
“Autism,” Jay suggested and added, “Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant.”
Their conversation caused many Selenators to call out the network and the said series on social media. However, a source close to the series told E! News, “If you watch the episode in full the reference to Gomez is part of a discussion the characters are having about topics that are not okay to make fun of and the idea of cancel culture and being cancelled for telling a bad joke. The reference is that her transplant is not something you can joke about.”
The Good Fight isn’t the first show to reference the artist’s kidney transplant. The Saved by the Bell reboot also received backlash last year after one of its scenes showed students gossiping about who donated her kidney and there was also a graffiti seen in the background with the words, “Does Selena Gomez Even Have A Kidney.”
Peacock, UTV, and the executive producers came under fire and apologized to Selena and removed the scenes from their series.
