‘Saved By The Bell’ reboot slammed for ‘disgusting’ joke about Selena Gomez
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
“Saved by the Bell” struck a wrong note.
Peacock’s long-awaited reboot of the high school comedy, which dropped Wednesday on the NBC streamer, is already facing backlash for an off-putting joke about Selena Gomez’s 2017 kidney transplant, Glamour reported Saturday.
A clip making the rounds on social media shows one character saying, “Now I know for a fact that Selena Gomez’s kidney donor was Justin Bieber’s mom. God, I wish that I had my phone so that I could prove it.”
“Prove what? That you’re an idiot?” another girl responds. “It was Demi Lovato’s kidney. They’re best friends, like you and I were.”
Bieber formerly dated the “Rare” singer. Lovato, also a Disney Channel alumnus, used to be friends with the 28-year-old “A Rainy Day in New York” star.
The clip online cuts to another scene in which a conversation takes place with graffiti in the background that seemingly reads, “Does Selena Gomez even have kidneys?”
Because of her complications with lupus, the “Wolves” singer underwent a 2017 kidney transplant. Friend and “Grown-ish” actress Francia Raisa, was the one who donated the kidney.
Gomez’s name was trending Saturday on Twitter as a result of the “disgusting” jab at her health battles.
“WHO in their right mind sat in the writers room and thought ‘hey let’s plug in a sick joke about someone who almost died just cause’ and WHO green lit it.. we need a response,” demanded one Twitter user.
“She was in so much pain, dealing with lupus symptoms & mental health issues,” tweeted one user, who urged the streamer to “remove the episode” and “RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ.”
A user who pointed out that all people, regardless of whether they’re Gomez fans, should be put off by the lines.
“Anyone with a conscience should know better. And I was just saying how good I heard this reboot was. No thanks!” she tweeted.
Back in September, the actress and singer opened up about her ordeal when she decided to share a photo bearing her surgery scar to the world.
“When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” said Gomez. “Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through...and I’m proud of that.”
———
©2020 New York Daily News
Visit New York Daily News at www.nydailynews.com
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
