Francia Raisa says she and Selena Gomez 'never had beef'

After actress Francia Raisa donated one of her kidneys to friend and fellow Hollywood star Selena Gomez, fans started to suspect that thier friendship might not have been as close as it seemed. The Grown-ish actress donated her kidney to the "Back to You" singer who was in deed of a transplant following damage from her Lupus diagnosis, but the pair drifted apart and friends started to think there was some bad blood brewing between them.

According to Francia Raisa in an interview with USA Today, the two of them "never really had beef" and they just needed some time apart from each other so they could come back together and be stronger friends than ever.

Selena Gomez's comment on friendship made fans suspicious

The rumors that the pair might be having drama started when Selena Gomez was speaking to Rolling Stone for a 2022 article. Even though the two of them had seemed to be good friends, Selena opened up to Rolling Stone for the article about the fact that she didn't really feel like she had a lot of close friends in Hollywood.

"I never fit in with a cool group of girls that were celebrities. My only friend in the industry really is Taylor [Swift], so I remember feeling like I didn’t belong. I felt the presence of everyone around me living full lives. I had this position, and I was really happy, but … was I? Do these materialistic things make me happy?" She said to the magazine.

Although this comment may have seemed innocuous, fans zeroed in on the quote after Francia Raisa called it "interesting" in a comment left, then deleted on an Instagram post about Selena's comment. Selena fired back by saying she wasn't talking about every person she knows and from there, things got messy. While people made assumptions about their friendship, some of Selena's fans started leaving mean comments for Francia.

"People are so mean, and they hit you like, right there. Someone said, ‘Oh, you’re just looking for attention because your career is a flop,'" Francia said on the GOOD GUYS Podcast with Josh Peck. In the same interview, she insisted there was no beef between the two of them.

Francia Raisa shuts down the rumors

Now, nearly seven years after donating her kidney to Selena Gomez in 2017, Francia Raisa has shut down the rumors that the two of them had beef once and for all. In July, fans were hopeful for a reconciliation after Selena Gomez publicly wished her friend a happy birthday and according to Francia Raisa, that really is where things took a turn for the best.

"I don't know why the universe decided this timing … then she reached out and said, 'Let's talk,'" Francia recalled during her interview with USA Today. Since then, the pair have been spotted together and even wore matching sweatshirts that referenced their "no beef, just salsa" quote the pair have used to describe their on-and-off friendship.

"We've never really had beef with each other. Nothing happened, and if you ask either of us, we don't know what happened but we needed that time apart. Then when you come back together, you're better people. She and I are still getting to know each other again."

- Francia Raisa

She also addressed the claims that she was "forced" to give Selena Gomez a kidney. According to Raisa, she wasn't and that she doesn't regret her choice to donate the kidney. She says the pair have always been close, there was "just a tiff" between them, but that they're closer now than ever.