Francia Raisa Responds to Selena Gomez’s Birthday Tribute After Drama

Selena Gomez extended a very public olive branch to her kidney donor and close friend Francia Raisa after Raisa sparked speculation in November that the two stars were no longer on good terms. Raisa accepted it.

Gomez posted a birthday tribute to Raisa, publicly addressing their relationship on Instagram. “Happiest of birthdays to this special human being. No matter where life takes us, I love you. ❤️ @franciaraisa,” Gomez wrote, sharing a carousel of images of the two together.

Raisa liked the post and re-followed Gomez on Instagram, fans noticed.

Raisa had unfollowed Gomez in November, after Gomez spoke to Rolling Stone about Taylor Swift being her only “industry” friend. Fans believed Gomez had been referring to the music industry and not talking about Raisa specifically, who is an actress.

Still, E! posted an Instagram about Gomez’s quote, and Raisa commented, “interesting,” then deleted it.

Gomez’s full quote was “I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities. My only friend in the industry really is Taylor [Swift], so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong. I felt the presence of everyone around me living full lives. I had this position, and I was really happy, but … was I? Do these materialistic things make me happy? [I realized] I just didn’t like who I was, because I didn’t know who I was.”

Gomez seemed to comment on Raisa’s unfollowing and response on TikTok at the time. She wrote, “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.”

Raisa donated one of her kidneys to Gomez in 2017, as Gomez’s own kidneys were shutting down due to lupus. Gomez spoke with Raisa on The Today Show that October about her hesitancy asking Raisa to get tested to see if she was a match.

“She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done,” Gomez said. “That was it. I didn’t want to ask a single person in my life. The thought of asking somebody to do that was really difficult for me. She volunteered and did it—and let alone somebody 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.”

Senior News and Strategy Editor

Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.