Selena Gomez is known for having a few A-listers in her friendship circle. From Taylor Swift to Jennifer Aniston, the Rare Beauty founder has plenty of supportive women by her side. One of those high-profile friendships includes Grown-ish alum Francia Raisa. The pair were close pals for many years and made headlines when Francia donated her kidney to Selena in 2017. However, Francia didn’t attend Selena’s wedding in 2025. Below is a complete timeline of their bond from the start to now.
Although the two beauty’s friendship became an online obsession for fans amid the age of social media, Selena and Francia met nearly 20 years ago! As many know, Francia was a star in the hit ABC series The Secret Life of the American Teenager, which premiered in 2008. At the same time, Selena starred on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, and both ABC and Disney had some of their actors attend a charity event in 2007. “Disney and ABC Family had the stars of their shows go to the Children’s Hospital,” Francia told Latina magazine (via PEOPLE). “Selena and I were in the same group and we just clicked.”
Years later, in 2015, Selena revealed that she was diagnosed with lupus via an interview with Billboard. “I was diagnosed with [autoimmune disease] lupus, and I’ve been through chemotherapy,” she explained at the time. The starlet went on to add that her break from her work had to do with her health. “That’s what my break was really about. I could’ve had a stroke,” Selena added.
Two years after she revealed her lupus diagnosis, Selena told her millions of Instagram followers that Francia had donated her kidney in order to help Selena’s health. “There aren’t words to describe how I can possibly thank my beautiful friend Francia Raisa. She gave me the ultimate gift and sacrifice by donating her kidney to me,” Selena captioned a photo of them in the hospital together on September 14, 2017. “I am incredibly blessed. I love you so much sis.”
In October 2017, the two besties sat down for an emotional interview on the TODAY show to discuss the donation process. At the time, Francia and her pal were living together and she knew something was off after Selena broke down in tears one day. “And she goes, ‘I don’t know what to do. The [transplant] list is seven-to-10-years long,’” Francia said. “And it just vomited out of me. I was like, ‘Of course I’ll get tested.’” Selena noted that her “life” was “better” following the surgery.
