Many fans of Selena Gomez condemned the new remake of a new series on Peacock, Saved by the Bell, that made several derogatory references to the kidney transplant that the singer had in 2017, Pagesix reports.
In a particular scene from the latest series, two high school students were seen arguing about who donated their kidneys to Gomez when she needed to undergo the surgical procedure. Gomez had told everyone that her close friend Francia Raisa was the transplant donor.
In the series, a student could be heard saying she thinks it was Justin Bieber’s mom that donated her kidney to Gomez. She said she wished she was on her phone to prove it to the other party. The other character responded that it was Demi Lovato since she’s best friends with Gomez. A disturbing sentence was seen written on the wall of the high school that asked if the singer and actress even had a kidney.
Peacock and everyone else involved on the show have since apologized for the outrage its flick caused to viewers who found it very distasteful. They said it was never their intention to make reduce the significance of the health challenge that Gomez went through. To make up for their actions, they said they would be donating to Gomez’s foundation at the University of Southern California, People writes.
Fans of the singer went on Twitter to trend many hashtags calling on producers of the show to respect Gomez. Many tagged the show’s obsession with Gomez’s health as very unnecessary and creepy. Thousands of fans of the singer called on Peacock to apologize and make amends for allowing the series to run on their streaming service.
Gomez first talked about her health challenge in 2017 when she revealed that Raisa was her transplant donor when her kidneys packed up due to Lupus. She shared photos of Raisa in the hospital after successful surgery and said she would be eternally grateful to her.
Gomez said she had never asked anybody because she didn’t want to put her friends and family in an extremely difficult position. However, Raisa had volunteered without her asking. Fortunately, their kidneys both matched. By Saturday evening, more than 3,000 fans had already signed a petition asking for the cancellation of the series.
Source: pagesix.com