Last year, a scene from the rebooted sitcom Saved By The Bell made light of Selena Gomez's health. During her battle with lupus, Gomez received a kidney transplant from her friend Francia Raisa in 2017. The transplant procedure was rough; Gomez needed additional emergency surgery in it. So when a scene from Saved By The Bell had two fans talking about Gomez's donor, with "Does Selena Gomez even have kidneys?" graffiti in the background, Gomez's fans were not amused. After a fan uproar, NBC's Peacock streaming service apologized for the scenes and donated to Gomez's lupus charity. But now another streaming show has made another Gomez-related joke, and it has incurred the wrath of Selena Gomez herself.
A recent episode of The Good Fight, Paramount+'s spinoff of The Good Wife, three characters sit around a mailroom, laughing about how "now it's like you need a permission slip to tell a joke." They mention a few things that you can't joke about -- things like "autism" and "Selena Gomez's kidney transplant." That line may have been a reference to the whole Saved By The Bell situation -- a joke about a joke about Selena Gomez, rather than a joke about Selena Gomez. It still pissed off Gomez's fans. Here's the scene:
https://twitter.com/smgculture/status/1422380527252762624
Last night, Gomez herself addressed the scene without mentioning The Good Fight by name. She was just as pissed as her fans: "I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently. I hope in the next writer’s room when one of these tasteless jokes are presented it’s called out immediately and doesn’t make it on air."
I am not sure how writing jokes about organ transplants for television shows has become a thing but sadly it has apparently. I hope in the next writer’s room when one of these tasteless jokes are presented it’s called out immediately and doesn’t make it on air.
— Selena Gomez (@selenagomez) August 3, 2021
In that Good Fight scene, one of the characters asks, "Do you think we could get cancelled for even joking about being cancelled?" I guess they're about to find out.
