Selena Gomez responds to ‘tasteless’ kidney joke on The Good Fight following backlash

The singer and actress thanked fans for defending her online (Picture: Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic)

Selena Gomez has responded to a ‘tasteless’ joke about her kidney transplant on The Good Fight.

The 29-year-old underwent life-changing surgery, made necessary by her battle with lupus, in 2017, with her best friend Francia Raisa donating a kidney.

It comes after a scene in the fourth episode of the drama’s fifth season, which sees television executives, played by Wayne Brady and Audra McDonald, discuss cancel culture in comedy. 

Speaking about which topics are off limits, characters Sarah Steele’s Marissa, Nyambi Nyambi’s Jay and Ifadansi Rashad’s Jim say that necrophilia, autism and ‘Selena Gomez’s kidney transplant’ are all no-go topics.

Backlash to the scene led fans to share the hashtag ‘Respect Selena Gomez’ on social media, and Selena spoke about the joke on Instagram.

Taking to social media, she wrote: ‘I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently.

The Good Fight is currently in its fifth season (Picture: CBS)

‘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.’

The Lose You To Love Me singer thanked her followers for defending her and shared a link to an organ donor sign-up page, adding: ‘My fans always have my back. LOVE YOU.’

Selena urged people to sign up to become organ donors (Picture: Instagram / selenagomez)

It’s not the first time that her kidney transplant has been the subject of jokes in TV shows, after the makers of Saved By The Bell apologised to Selena in 2020.

An NBC spokesperson said it was ‘never our intention’ to joke about her surgery after an episode saw two characters argue about who donated the organ to the singer in 2017.

More: Selena Gomez

Meanwhile, Selena recently called Boris Johnson out on Twitter over his promise to donate the UK’s surplus of coronavirus vaccines to other countries.

The singer called on her followers to urge the Prime Minister to donate more vaccines to poorer countries sooner than he plans, labelling the current amount promised as ‘too little too late’.  

Metro.co.uk has reached out to CBS for comment.

The Good Fight airs on CBS All Access in the US.

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