Francia Raisa supported her pal Selena Gomez at the inaugural Rare Impact Fund Benefit in Los Angeles on October 4, and clarified that her decision to donate a kidney to Selena in 2017 had “nothing” to do with why they briefly fell out as friends. Francia, 35, spoke to Extra at the event and confirmed that her and Selena, 31, are friends again after going through some public drama in 2022.
“Sometimes, I feel people need to spend time apart in order to grow individually and then come back together,” she said. “We had to almost kind of go on our own journey and grow. I am very happy in my career and I don’t know if I would be able to do that if I didn’t really take some time for myself and figure out what the hell was going on with me, because I wasn’t okay.”
“I’m okay now,” Francia added, “and just for the record, it had nothing to do with the kidney. “I went through a lot in my childhood and I will be talking about it very soon about exactly what happened, and like I said, she’s [Selena] been such a huge support through all of that and such a cheerleader for me through all of that. Just her stuff is a lot more public than mine.”
Selena and Francia have been friends for a while, but last year, it seemed like they had a falling out. The pair were at odds over Selena’s November 2022 Rolling Stone interview, where she declared that Taylor Swift is her “only friend” in Hollywood. This appeared to upset Francia, who caught wind of Selena’s remarks on an Instagram post and commented, “Interesting.” She quickly deleted the comment, but went on to unfollow Selena from the social media site. Selena responded by making a dig at Francia. “Sorry I didn’t mention every person I know,” she wrote in the comments section of a TikTok about the drama.
In her interview with Extra, Francia explained that her and Selena “trauma bonded” when they became friends “which is beautiful, but also it can get rocky and tricky.” The How I Met Your Father star continued, “People grow, relationships change. But obviously, I treat her like my little sister, she treats me like her older sister. I don’t know any relationship that’s perfect. They all go through things.”
“When our situation came up, and everything, no, I never pictured that, but obviously I never regretted it,” Francia said, referencing her falling out with Selena. “I am happy that we are here today, celebrating and supporting each other,” she added. Francia also noted that she’s “different person” now than when she was having problems with the Only Murders in the Building star. “Even when Selena turned 30, I’m like, ‘It’s different, isn’t it?’ and she was like, ‘Yeah,’ ” Francia recalled. “I said, ‘Welcome to your 30s. Now we can get to know each other again.’ ”
Francia previously shut down rumors of a feud with Selena on Josh Peck’s Good Guys podcast in August. “You guys, there’s no beef, just salsa,” she said. Francia also admitted that it’s been hard seeing false headlines about her friendship with Selena. “Whenever I thought about my name being in the press, I never thought about it like this,” Francia admitted.
Selena, for her part, proved she was on good terms with Francia when she sent her love on her 35th birthday in July. “Happiest of birthdays to this special human being,” Selena wrote, alongside several photos of the pair. “No matter where life takes us, I love you.” Francia “liked” the post on Instagram and then followed Selena back on the app.