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Selena Gomez slams 'The Good Fight' for joking about her kidney transplant

By Megan Armstrong | Last updated 8/4/21

Selena Gomez is quite tired of television shows making fun of her 2017 kidney transplant.

The latest example came during the fourth episode in the fifth season of Paramount Plus original series The Good Fight, which first hit the streaming service July 14.

Del Cooper (Wayne Brady), an executive with a comedy streaming network, visits Liz Reddick (Audra McDonald), and she conducts a sensitivity reading on one of his comedian's sets because he has an $8 million contract to stream her controversial act. This leads to everyone at the firm combing through every joke and more broadly discussing comedy and cancel culture.

Jay Dipersia (Nyambi Nyambi) eventually laments that, these days, "you need a permission slip to tell a joke." Jim (Ifadansi Rashad) then passes out literal cards to Jay and Marissa (Sarah Steele) granting permission to joke about "Black people, feminists, Obama, Kamala, Republicans, fats." Jay asks if there are any groups or topics totally off-limits, and they decide on "necrophilia, autism and Selena Gomez's kidney transplant."

Gomez isn't here for any of it:

My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU. If you are able to please sign up to be an organ donor https://t.co/4GSEiHEfEf
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) August 3, 2021

The 29-year-old actress and singer-songwriter previously went through this when the first season of Peacock's Saved by the Bell reboot arrived last November:

they also spread misinformation about it, as it can be seen in this videopic.twitter.com/l3Ebl162O1
— emrah (@skinnysel) November 28, 2020

Grown-ish actress Francia Raisa, Gomez's close friend and kidney donor, appeared to address the tasteless reference at the time:

As a kidney donor I want to show love and let other donors know that you are not alone. You are seen. You are appreciated. You are so brave and your selfless act is very much appreciated and valued!
— Francia Raisa (@franciaraisa) November 28, 2020

Peacock, Saved by the Bell executive producers and Universal Television provided a statement on the matter to USA Today: "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."

Gomez first revealed her lupus diagnosis within an October 2015 Billboard cover story.

"I was diagnosed with [autoimmune disease] lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy," she told writer Chris Martins, explaining why she canceled her 2013 tour and entered an Arizona rehab facility iin January 2014. "That's what my break was really about. I could've had a stroke."

The "Lose You to Love Me" singer confirmed that her lupus necessitated a kidney transplant in September 2017: