A friendship timeline between Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa, her kidney-donor

Singer, actress, and sometime chef Selena Gomez and Francia Raisa have been BFF goals for years — possibly even more so than Gomez and Demi Lovato or Taylor Swift ever were, because, well, Raisa gave Gomez a kidney, due to the “Lose You To Love Me” singer’s struggles with lupus. Raisa reportedly volunteered her own kidney without a second's hesitation in order to save her friend's life. 

The pair grew up together as Disney stars (Gomez on the Disney Channel's Wizards Of Waverly Place and Princess Protection Program, and Raisa on Freeform's The Secret Life Of The American Teenager, followed by the Black-ish spinoff, Grown-ish), but like most friends growing up together, they’ve experienced a series of ups and downs, some of which have been extreme.

Things recently have taken an extreme turn now that Selena stans aka “Selenators” have turned their vitriol toward Raisa. You might remember that Hailey Bieber recently sought Gomez’ help in stopping the online bullying and trolling directed at her from Selenators. Now, Raisa is speaking out about the same trolling, as the stans have turned their ugly sights on her.

Speaking with a TMZ videographer, Raisa revealed, “I don’t really want to talk to you right now. The only thing I’m going to say is in no way, shape or form does anyone condone bullying, especially Selena.”

One of the most hurtful comments she received from a bullying troll was the obscene comment, “I hope someone goes up your p***y and rips out your other kidney you f***ing wh**e.”

“She literally has a whole non-profit dedicated to mental health…the fact that I’m being bullied as I am, it’s messing with me mentally. To me, it’s not what anyone wants for someone. She’s literally out there saying ‘please stop,’ so I don’t understand,” Francia continued.

“I’m doing my best to not listen…I’m sending love to everyone. I understand, I’ve been a hardcore fan of people growing up myself. I totally get it. But it’s not nice. Not just with me, but with anyone…please stop.”

So how did we get here? How did these longtime besties and one-time roomies get to this level of vitriol? We investigate.

2007

Selena and Francia have a bond that dates back 15 years. According to Raisa, they first met in 2007 while doing charity work at a hospital for Disney and "just clicked.” From there, they were off to the races.

2013

The besties participated in a viral dance video that some speculated was poking fun at Gomez's ex, Justin Bieber.

2017

This is the year that changed everything, as Gomez needed a kidney transplant due to lupus-induced kidney failure.

Raisa recalled on Today in October 2017, "One day she came home, and she was emotional. I hadn't asked anything. I knew that she hadn't been feeling well. She couldn't open a water bottle one day and she chucked it and just started crying." Gomez then told Raisa she needed a kidney transplant, but was scared of the seven- to 10-year wait for a donor. "And it just vomited out of me," Raisa said. "I was like, 'Of course I'll get tested.'"

Raisa immediately got a full physical exam, as well as blood and urine testing. Today reported that the process, which typically can take months, finished in just a single day.

"She lived with me in this interesting time where my kidneys were just done," Gomez explained. "That was it and 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. And she volunteered and did it ... The fact that she was a match, I mean, that's unbelievable."

When Billboard presented Gomez with the 2017 "Women of the Year" award, she dedicated it to Raisa. "To be honest, I think Francia should be getting this award because she saved my life."

2018

After Raisa donated her kidney, observant fans noticed a change. Raisa didn't seem particularly jovial during an interview with Self. During that time, she revealed that Gomez learned that she was a potential match before she did and delivered the news via Facetime. Angered that the doctor shared the information before she could process the news, she called her social worker to vent. During the call, they warned her that, if she went through with the donation, she'd have a more difficult recovery than Gomez. "The recipient is going to glow and she's going to recover a lot faster than the donor because she's receiving something she needs; you're losing something you don't need to lose." Ultimately, Raisa endured a difficult recovery, as did Gomez, who had to have emergency surgery shortly after the transplant.

2019

Two years after her surgery, Radar Online published an anonymous source's statement, which said the friends hadn't spoken in 9 months, implying it was because of Gomez's decision to drink, which is not recommended for transplant patients.

2020

This year, Raisa spoke out over a “distasteful" comment written on a wall in the "Saved By The Bell" reboot, which read "Does Selena Gomez even have a kidney?" After users on social media complained, the show apologized, but Raisa didn't let them off that easily, urging them to not forget about the donors who may feel away by their dismissive gesture.

2022

Last year, Raisa, while promoting her new show "How I Met Your Father," was asked about the importance of having a friend like Gomez in the entertainment industry. "I think it's just important in general to have friendships in this industry," she said during a segment of E! News Daily Pop. "It's really, really tough to find or just to kinda grow into, especially when people's careers start changing and stuff."

Then in July of last year, Gomez shocked her fans when she brought Raisa onto her TikTok account to participate in the viral "he's a 10" trend, where participants share the traits and habits that keep guys from being "10s." In the video, the pair banter back and forth as they list off their pet peeves. "He's a 10 but his breath stinks," Raisa touts. Unphased, Gomez questions, "and I can't fix that?" Later in the video, during one of Gomez's turns, she proposes: "He's a 10, but he hates your best friends" to which Raisa jokingly responds: "Ah. I hate her too sometimes." The pair then break out into a fit of laughter, which ends with Gomez stating: "Honestly, fair enough."

That TikTok racked up over one million likes even though the BFFs didn't directly address the rumours of discontent.

Since then, Selena told Rolling Stone during a press run for her Apple TV+ documentary "My Mind and Me" that her "only friend" in the industry was Taylor Swift. When Francia caught wind on that possible jab and commented under E! News post about it, many fans started to question their friendship status. Fans also felt protective of Raisa since she wasn't mentioned ONCE in Gomez's documentary. Many fans took offense since the documentary touched light upon Selena's kidney transplant and Francia was a key part in that even becoming possible.

2023

Francia Raisa was asked by TMZ about her friendship with the former 'Wizards of Weaverly Place' star, and Francia did everything in her power to completely dodge the questions. Selena's fans weren't too pleased with the 'How I Met Your Father' star and as a result, many fans began to bully her online sharing some terrible messages dedicated to the actress.

A week followeing her initial conversation with TMZ, Francia spoke out to share how the bullying has impacted her and insists that her and Selena don't stand for bullying of any kind. 

"The only thing I'm going to say is in no way, shape or form does anyone condone bullying, especially Selena," the star stated to TMZ. "She literally has a whole nonprofit dedicated to mental health, and I believe Rare Beauty even just had an event for mental health. So the fact that I'm now being bullied as I am, it's messing with me mentally."

At press time, Selena hasn’t responded to Raisa’s concerns over trolling and bullying online perpetrated by her fans.