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INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA: In this image released on May 2, Selena Gomez speaks onstage during Global Ci...

Selena Called Out 'The Good Fight's Writers For Joking About Her Kidney Transplant

She had a thank you message for Selenators, too.

by Brandy Robidoux
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
Kevin Mazur/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Selenators are one of the most dedicated fanbases out there, and they’ll protect Selena Gomez to no end. So, when one television show used her June 2017 kidney transplant surgery as part of a scene, all bets were off. They instantly took the network to task, and Twitter was filled with heated responses. The Good Fight's joke about Selena Gomez's kidney transplant surgery has fans up in arms. Not long after, Selena called out The Good Fight herself.

In 2021, it seems like there’s a new person in pop culture being called out by fans every day. This time around, it’s the Paramount+ legal drama that is catching flack. In season five, episode four of the show, the main characters had a discussion about cancel culture and how sensitive society is on the whole. One character named Jay said it feels like you now "need a permission slip to tell a joke."

His co-stars couldn’t have agreed more, and started listing all of the things that are off-limits “Necrophilia?" Jim said, to which Marissa responded, "No, that could be funny.”

"Autism," Jay then said.

"Selena Gomez's kidney transplant," Jim chimed in.

Gomez was less than thrilled after seeing a snippet of the episode. She hit back at the show’s writers in a tweet posted on Aug. 3. “I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently,” she tweeted. “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.”

In a follow-up tweet, she thanked fans for sticking up for her. “My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU. If you are able to please sign up to be an organ donor,” she wrote.

Gomez was right, fans really did have her back. Many took to Twitter with scathing words for the show’s writers. “When will people stop doing this !!! RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ,” one fan tweeted.

#RespectSelenaGomez soon started trending on Twitter.

Many people pointed out it wasn’t the first time Gomez’s kidney transplant had been the butt of a joke in a scripted TV show. The Saved by the Bell reboot also receive backlash for joking about it.

“It's honestly disgusting to me that television shows these days target Selena Gomez's Kidney Transplant,” one person tweeted. “First, the ‘Saved by the Bell’ reboot, now ‘The Good Fight’? When will these show writers stop making fun of the queen, icon, & role model? So devastating.”

Others said the show was using Gomez’s name to get attention.

Gomez revealed she underwent a kidney transplant donated by her friend Francia Raisa in 2017. It was a sensitive subject for the singer then, and, four years later, it still is for her most-dedicated fans.

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