After Transplant, Selena Gomez Named New Kidney After Fred Armisen

First, the not-so-funny part. After Selena Gomez was diagnosed with the autoimmune disease lupus in 2015, a condition triggered by stress, she required a kidney transplant. She received the new organ in 2017, and complications from that procedure required another life-threatening surgery to release pressure on an artery. Not a lot of laughs. 

But at least she came through all her medical ordeals with her sense of humor intact, treating her replaced organ like a particularly adorable new pet. “I named my new kidney ‘Fred,’” she told Rolling Stone. Okay, Fred it is. Was there any particular reason for the new moniker?

“I named it after Fred Armisen because I love Portlandia,” she confessed. “I’ve never met him, but I’m secretly hoping he finds that out just because I want him to be like, ‘That’s weird.’” 

Guess what — Armisen found out! On an appearance with Jimmy Fallon a few weeks after the Rolling Stone interview, the Only Murders In the Building star revealed that Armisen reached out after hearing about his kidney namesake. “He sent me flowers,” Gomez gushed. “I was so excited.”

“He's actually super-fun,” replied Fallon. “You should hang out with him.”

It’s too bad Armisen is no longer producing Portlandia. ‘Internal organs named after favorite comedians’ seems like a sketch concept that writes itself. “Have you met my new pancreas, John Mulaney?”