A resurfaced interview with the dad of Francia Raísa, Selena Gomez‘s kidney donor, has reignited some spicy speculation about what went down between the (ex) BFFs to cause such a messy breakdown of their friendship.
The internet’s obsession with the pair’s ~alleged~ feud reignited earlier this year in April after Raísa dodged questions by a TMZ paparazzo about her friendship with Gomez. The pap asked her why she still hadn’t followed Selena Gomez back on Instagram, which Raísa deflected, and then she appeared to imply she had some regrets about donating her kidney.
‘How I Met Your Father’ star #FranciaRaisa dodged questions about her former friend — and kidney recipient — #SelenaGomez 👀https://t.co/hdXd88OfDa pic.twitter.com/wmB2IWJEm9
— TMZ (@TMZ) May 1, 2023
Unfortunately, Gomez stans took that as renewed fodder for hate and Raísa’s been the subject of some pretty feral online bullying because of it.
Off the back of that, a dicey interview with Raísa’s father Renán Almendárez Coello on the Spanish-language TV program Primer Impacto from November has resurfaced and is doing the rounds. and I’m honestly shocked it’s only just becoming a thing now.
In the interview, Coello dished tea on why Raísa was noticeably absent from Gomez’s much hyped documentary, My Mind & Me.
At the time, the lack of shoutout to Raísa was a big deal — the documentary was all about Gomez’s health struggles, both mental and physical, and also touched on her life-saving kidney transplant.
Given it shone a spotlight on Gomez’s other friends, leaving out her kidney donor — who was supposed to be her bestie at the time — was a pretty suss move.
“Love, money and fame changes the whole world, including Selena,” Coello said in the interview.
Coello was then asked if the falling out between Gomez and Raísa was “provoked” by Gomez’s drinking. Hmm.
“There’s a difference when Selena is drinking,” Coello replied.
“Francia told Selena that she didn’t give her the kidney so she could go out and drink.”
Ooft.
Coello then decided to take it upon himself to caution Gomez: “Be careful,” he warned her on the show. “Be very careful”.
This whole thing has me torn — sure, if (and we’re leaning really heavily on this “if” here), Gomez is drinking in a way that is dangerous for her health, her friends/family have the right to worry, but also… it seems wrong to hold the kidney donation against Gomez and use it to comment on her life choices and ban her from drinking. She’s an adult with her own bodily autonomy, after all, and there’s something ick about trying to control her behaviour like this.
I also have to ask: why TF is the father of a friend of Selena Gomez talking about her in an interview? Not to take sides, but it truly is my pet peeve when people with tenuous links to celebrities then do interviews about them. It always just seems a little bad faith.
ICYMI, the feud rumours first began when Selena Gomez called Taylor Swift her “only friend in the industry” while promoting My Mind & Me.
“I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities,” Gomez told Rolling Stone last November, a week before Coello’s comments.
“My only friend in the industry really is Taylor, so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong.”
Whether she was speaking about the entertainment industry in general or the music industry specifically is unclear, but Francia Raísa appeared to take it personally as both a friend of Gomez and an actress (albeit a much lesser-known one).
The How I Met Your Father star commented “Interesting” on an E! News Instagram post which quoted Gomez — and then she unfollowed her. Fkn yikes.
because you aren’t industry friends? Selena literally calls you her sister. If you check the actual interview selena is clearly implying her social circle of pop girls. Why does selena constantly need to keep reminding you the place you hold in her life publicly?
— Kiara🧜🏽♀️🧚🏽♀️🧞♀️ (@Bxkhxrl7Mxhsln) November 6, 2022
Gomez then retaliated to Raísa’s response in a comment section of a TikTok video about the drama.
“Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know,” she wrote.
Selena Gomez responds to Francia Raisa deleting an Instagram comment then unfollowing her after saying that Taylor Swift is her “only friend in the industry”:
“Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know.” pic.twitter.com/UaGl6bPtSJ
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) November 6, 2022
Francia Raísa faced plenty of backlash from her since-deleted comment, with fans labelling her all kinds of insults, some of which were very graphic. However, others defended her and reminded Gomez fans that the pop star literally has a kidney because of Raísa.
All this drama only got worse when Gomez’s documentary actually aired, sans Raísa.
Aaaaand that’s what brings us back to present day, with rumoured beef between the two, a dad who needs to step TF down, and some feral online trolls.
What a mess.
