Peacock To Cut Jokes About Selena Gomez’s Kidney Transplant In Episode Following Social Media Backlash – Update
UPDATE: After receiving backlash from Selena Gomez fans on social media, Peacock will remove the scenes from Saved By The Bell where characters joke about the singer’s 2017 kidney transplant. Deadline has confirmed the scenes’ removal.
The move, which follows the NBC streaming network’s apology and donation to Gomez’s lupus research fund, also comes days after the singer’s friend and donor Francia Raisa shamed the platform for poking fun at the transplant on Saturday.
“Appreciate the apology but let’s not forget about the donors that potentially felt offended and dismissed from the spray paint written on the wall,” she tweeted.
PREVIOUS: A number of Selena Gomez fans took offense at Peacock’s new and updated Saved By The Bell when the series seemed to poke fun at the singer’s kidney transplant.
On Saturday, scores of Twitter users expressed their disappointment in the Peacock series and tweeted out the phrase “RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ” to show their support for the “Lose You To Love Me” singer.
“Making fun about someone’s disease will never be funny. Respect Selena Gomez,” one Twitter user said on the issue.
The episode in question features a couple of Bayside High besties gossiping about the latest in pop culture. However, after students’ phones are taken away, the two girls have no way of checking their sources when it comes to knowing who gave Gomez her much-needed kidney back in 2017 to treat her Lupus. While the real-life donor was Gomez’s friend and actress Francia Raisa, Saved By The Bell‘s characters bickered that it was either the mother of ex-boyfriend Justin Bieber or fellow musician and Disney channel alum Demi Lovato.
To take the joke even further, a Bayside High hallway wall seems to read “Does Selena Gomez Even Have A Kidney” in black graffiti.
While the joke was meant to showcase the importance of technology in the students’ personal lives, it didn’t seem to land well among the singer’s fans. As a result of the backlash following the series’ Thanksgiving premiere, Peacock has issued an apology and a donation for the singer’s Lupus research fund.
“We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena’s health,” NBC’s streaming platform shared in a statement. “We have been in touch with her team and will be making a donation to her charity, The Selena Gomez Fund for Lupus Research at USC.”
See the social media reactions below.
More from Deadline
Best of Deadline
Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.