Selena Gomez is thought to have fallen out with her best friend and kidney donor Francia Raisa, after a rift between the women ventured onto social media this weekend.
Gomez, 30, suffers from lupus and received a kidney from Raisa, 34, as she underwent a gruelling transplant in 2017, after becoming gravely ill with the autoimmune disease.
The Disney star details her struggles with her health and the transplant process in new documentary My Mind & Me, however fails to mention actress Raisa and, in a Rolling Stone interview, named Taylor Swift as her only “industry friend”.
After seemingly shunning Raisa, who has starred in several TV and film projects, including Bring It On: All or Nothing, and Grown-ish, the Latina actress unfollowed Gomez on Instagram.
Raisa also left the comment “interesting” underneath an E! News post, following the release of the documentary.
Gomez commented underneath a TikTok video pointing out Raisa had unfollowed her: “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know”, leaving fans shocked.
The Only Murders in the Building actress still follows Raisa, while Raisa has since deleted her comment.
Gomez and Raisa have a long and layered history, having been friends for 10 years, and previously referred to each other as “sister”.
Speaking on her close friendships recently, Gomez told Rolling Stone magazine: “I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities. My only friend in the industry really is Taylor.”
In her documentary, Gomez is seen breaking down in tears over having lupus, as she describes feeling excruciating pain “everywhere”.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s natural immune system to attack healthy tissue, causing joint pain, skin rashes, and tiredness.
Gomez publicly thanked Raisa in a post following her kidney transplant, amid her lupus struggle, as she posted a photo of the pair holding hands in adjoining hospital beds on social media.
She wrote at the time: “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me. I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.”
The pair appeared on the Today Show together afterwards, to talk about their unique experience, following the transplant.
“My kidneys were shutting down,” Gomez said.
“[Raisa] lived with me during this interesting time where my kidneys were just done. That was it, and I didn’t want to ask a single person in my life. The thought of asking someone to do that was really difficult for me.
“She volunteered and did it. And let alone someone wanting to volunteer, it is incredibly difficult to find a match. The fact that she was a match, I mean that’s unbelievable. That’s not real.”
Gomez later had to have emergency surgery following complications she had after her kidney transplant.
Raisa told Self she received a text message from Gomez at the time, saying, “I’m so scared I might die.”
She explained: “That’s when she got the complication where the kidney turned and broke an artery and she had to go back in and they actually had to take a vein from her leg - so she has a scar right here [pointing to her inner thigh] and build a wall around her artery.”
