Selena Gomez’s new documentary, My Mind & Me, made one thing clear: despite her global stardom, the actor and singer is a real person. And just like any other regular human being, she’s bound to piss off her friends. The Apple TV+ film, which recounts the singer’s life over the past six years, has seemingly caused a feud between Gomez and her longtime friend Francia Raisa, the actor who donated a kidney to Gomez in 2017. Since the documentary came out Friday, there’s been at least one Instagram unfollow, a handful of shady comments, and an army of fans coming to Gomez’s defense. But what exactly led these organ-sharing, lifelong besties to quarrel? Let’s dig in.
On the eve of My Mind & Me’s release, Rolling Stone published an interview with Gomez about the film and her hesitations around it. She also opened up about her general feelings of isolation, confessing in the interview that she “never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities,” adding that Taylor Swift is her only friend in the industry. This seemed to hit a nerve with Raisa, who’s been acting since 2005, starring in shows like The Secret Life of an American Teenager, Grown-ish, and most recently, Hulu’s How I Met Your Father—and has been friends with the global sensation since 2007.
After E! News posted Gomez’s comment about Swift on Instagram—a friendship that budded in 2008 because they were both dating Jonas Brothers at the time—Raisa simply commented, “Interesting,” before promptly unfollowing Gomez. While Raisa has since deleted the comment, Gomez still responded, writing, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know,” on the same Instagram post.
Back in 2017, Selena wrote on Instagram that her prolonged online absence was due to the fact she got a kidney transplant to help manage her worsening lupus. She posted a tender photo of her and Raisa holding hands across their hospital beds and smiling at each other, along with pictures of her hospital scars, with the caption: “And finally, 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.”
It’s true that Gomez sparingly talks about her transplant in the documentary, and doesn’t mention Raisa at all. But that could all be elements out of her control. Just like many aspects of the actor’s life, the film was subject to heavy editing—we’ll probably never quite know for sure if Gomez talked about Raisa and it simply didn’t make the final cut.
Regardless, fans were quick to defend Gomez’s comments, or lack thereof, with some saying that she was only referring to the “music industry” when mentioning Swift, rather than Hollywood at large. Others criticized Raisa for not taking the matter up with Gomez privately, saying she could have just called her to hash things out, and maybe hear Gomez’s side of the story.
Gomez has typically been one to rise above and bury the hatchet when it comes to petty drama: She recently posed with Hailey Bieber at the Academy Museum Gala after asking her fans to quit harassing her ex’s wife. Hopefully, Gomez and Raisa can patch things up and go back to sharing everything.