‘Respect Selena Gomez’: Why Fans Are Upset Over the Saved by the Bell Reboot

As you may remember, pop star Selena Gomez underwent a kidney transplant over the summer of 2017, which she explained was a result of complications from her lupus.

Now Gomez’s health battle is back in the news, but for an unexpected reason. On November 28, Selenators took to Twitter over what appears to be a joke about her kidney transplant in the dialogue as well as the background of a scene from NBC’s new Saved by the Bell reboot, which is streaming now on Peacock.

Here’s everything we know.

What happened on the Saved By the Bell reboot?

During episode six of the reboot, all of the Bayside High students have lost access to their phones. In a clip from the episode that circulated on Twitter, one character tells another that she has proof on her phone that Gomez’s transplanted kidney is from “Justin Bieber’s mom,” while another character responds that it was actually Demi Lovato’s kidney. Neither are able to look up the truth.

In the next scene, graffiti on a wall in a locker room seems to read “Does Selena Gomez even have kidneys?”

What is this even in reference to?

In September 2017 in real life, Gomez revealed she had received a kidney transplant from her best friend Francia Raisa, which she needed due to complications from lupus.

“I found out I needed to get a kidney transplant due to my Lupus and was recovering,” Gomez wrote on Instagram of her extended absence over the last few months. “It was what I needed to do for my overall health.”

Gomez was diagnosed with the disease, which causes the body’s immune system to attack its own organs and tissues, in 2014 and underwent chemotherapy to treat it in 2015.

This September, Gomez proudly showed off her surgery scar, something she admitted to struggling with since her transplant. “When I got my kidney transplant, I remember it being very difficult at first showing my scar,” she revealed in the caption. “I didn’t want it to be in photos, so I wore things that would cover it up.”

She continued, “Now, more than ever, I feel confident in who I am and what I went through...and I’m proud of that.”

Okay, so how did people react?

Fans were quick to call out the show for what they perceive as an attempt to make light of Gomez’s health and use her illness as fodder for jokes. Hence, “RESPECT SELENA GOMEZ” started trending on the morning of November 28, quickly racking up hundreds of thousands of tweets.

Has Peacock or anyone from the series responded?

Yes. A rep has released the following official statement to Glamour from Peacock, Universal Television, as well as the executive producers of Saved by the Bell: “We apologize. It was never our intention to make light of Selena’s health. 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.”

Has anyone else involved weighed in?

On Sunday, November 29, actress Francia Raisa—who donated one of her kidneys to Gomez—responded to Peacock's apology. On Twitter, she wrote, “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.”

This post will be updated as more information comes up.

Originally Appeared on Glamour