Singer and actress Selena Gomez has expressed her disdain over “jokes” made about her kidney transplant on TV series ‘The Good Fight’.
“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,” Gomez, 29, tweeted on Wednesday.
Her public call-out came after fans trended ‘RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ’ on Twitter over the episode, in which the characters discuss which jokes might be allowed or not for a television executive. Some of the topics that were deemed off limits by the characters were necrophilia, autism and “Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant,” Variety reported.
Gomez acknowledged her fans’ support and also tweeted out a link to encourage people to sign up to be organ donors.
“My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU. If you are able to please sign up to be an organ donor,” she wrote.
However, Variety reported a source close to the production as saying that the scene was taken out of context.
“If you watch the episode in full, the reference to Selena 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 Selena Gomez’s transplant is not something you can joke about,” the source said.
The ‘Love You Like A Love Song’ hitmaker underwent a kidney transplant in 2017 out of the public eye after suffering with autoimmune disease Lupus for years. She made the announcement about the life-saving procedure after the fact, and revealed that she had gotten the organ from her friend Francia Raisa.
Gomez first opened up about having Lupus in 2015. In 2016, she cancelled her Dubai concert and several other tour dates citing Lupus’ psychological side-effects.
“I’ve discovered that anxiety, panic attacks and depression can be side effects of Lupus, which can present their own challenges,” she said at the time. “I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off... I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best.”
