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Francia Raisa has finally set the record straight about her rumored fallout with Selena Gomez, and why she skipped the singer's much-publicized wedding to Benny Blanco.
The 37-year-old Grown-ish actress, who famously donated a kidney to Gomez in 2017, dismissed years of speculation that the two had a falling out over the pop star's lifestyle choices following the transplant. "What you're asking me are just rumors," Raisa said during a recent interview with Primer Impacto. "No one knows what's going on, and neither she nor I are talking about it."
Raisa was notably absent from Gomez's September 27 ceremony in Santa Barbara, which drew a star-studded guest list including Taylor Swift, Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Ed Sheeran. Still, Raisa insisted she holds no hard feelings toward her longtime friend. "I'm very happy for her," she said. "She's living her life, she's a billionaire, and I'm grateful I was able to do that for her."
The pair's friendship first captured headlines eight years ago when Gomez revealed that Raisa had donated a kidney after lupus complications left the singer in need of a transplant. At the time, Gomez called Raisa "the ultimate gift-giver" and said she was "incredibly blessed."
But in 2022, fans suspected tension when Gomez told Rolling Stone that her "only friend in the industry" was Taylor Swift, prompting Raisa to comment "Interesting" under a post, a remark she later deleted. Gomez quickly downplayed the moment, telling followers she "didn't mention everyone I know."
Raisa later told Extra TV that their relationship wasn't broken, just evolving. "Sometimes, people need to spend time apart to grow," she said, adding that both had endured personal struggles since the transplant. "We had to go on our own journeys."
Though she skipped the wedding, Raisa maintains that she and Gomez remain connected. "We've never really had beef," she told USA Today last year. "We just needed time apart, and when we came back together, we were better people."
For Raisa, the focus remains on gratitude. "It came from the kindness of my heart," she said. "And I've been blessed ever since."
