EJ’s Coming Out
Magic Johnson was among the world’s most successful sportsmen in his day. However, the NBA legend, following a crushing early retirement, turned his attention to charitable work and business objectives as well as his children. Indeed, Magic is married and has three children. His partner, Cookie and fashion icon son, EJ, is probably as popular today as the 6’9 “All-Star. The wealthy kids of Beverly Hills star may not have been expecting the spectacular reaction he received when EJ came out to his father.
EJ’s Coming Out
Family Problem
Despite their fame and wealth, in the past, the Johnsons had their weight of problems. This is common as many various generations often simply don’t see the same way even is it’s something as normal as fashion, art, life, music, or faith. This, too, seemed to be the case with the Johnson family, as EJ announced some heartfelt details.
Family Problem
Magic’s Reaction
Magic ‘s reaction to EJ ‘s revelation astonished the family during a chat between parents and son. Thankfully, Cookie was around to aid the former NBA star in seeing things positively. But let’s take a more in-depth look at Magic ‘s life before we figure out just what transpired with the Johnsons.
Magic’s Reaction
He Was Called “Magic”
In 1959, Earvin “Magic” Johnson was born, and at an early age, he looked tipped for greatness. The Lansing, Michigan, native’s superiority of high school ball gave him his famous nickname. Journalist Fred Stabley Jr. called the future Lakers to point guard “magic” after one especially impressive performance, and it’s easy to understand why considering the games numbers.
He Was Called “Magic”
A Star Was Brought To The World
It is safe to say that the year 1974 brought into the world a star. The teenager improved Everett High’s odds of winning with 16 assists, 18 rebounds, and a staggering 36 points. Magic then ended up taking up a spot at Michigan State University after graduating high school. And it was during playing for the Spartans that he began his famous feud with fellow player Larry Bird.
A Star Was Brought To The World
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
The growing tension began in 1979 during the National Collegiate Athletic Association finals with a Spartans triumph over Bird’s Indiana State. However, in 1984 Magic and his rival collaboratively made a commercial for Converse and made up. Ever since then, they have featured together in a documentary and earned the first-ever joint NBA Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association
Full-Time Basketball Player
The triumph by Spartans was a major factor that propelled Magic to the 1979 All-American team. Furthermore, after two years of studying as a major in communication two years prior, he left college to play full-time basketball. This was one of Michigan native ‘s finest decisions.
Full Time Basketball Player
A First-Choice
A few months later, Magic became a first-choice draft pick for the Los Angeles Lakers. Once his contract was signed, a partnership began which would last almost two decades and see Magic becoming the highest-paid athlete in history. The point guard also would lead the team to five league championships, while game fans on three individual occasions voted him Most Valuable Player (MVP).
A First Choice
He Has The Skills
Evidently, while the promise of meeting with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar first drew Magic to the Lakers, his own skill would make him a megastar. Magic has recorded an incredible list of achievements in over 900 games, including having scored a cumulative career of 17,707 points and breaking the All-Star single-game mark of 22 assists. Yet, the awards don’t stop there.
He Has The Skills
Fifty Greatest Players Of All Time
For starters, in 1996 the NBA added Magic on their list of All Time’s 50 Greatest Players. He’s also known for bringing a new basketball-style into the game, dubbed Showtime. Yet ESPN also rates Magic as one of the 20th Century’s 50 Best Athletes. The network said of the Lakers legend in an article in 2006, “It could be argued that he is the one player in the history of NBA who was better than Michael Jordan”
Fifty Greatest Players Of All Time
Olympic Gold Medal
And rounding off an already impressive career, in 1992 Magic won an Olympic gold medal playing for the so-called “Dream Team” of the U.S. – a team that included the top world-class players such as Charles Barkley, and longtime enemy of Jordan and Magic the player Bird. Taking all of this into account, then, it is not difficult to see how he ultimately became a Basketball Hall of Fame inductee. Yet since his rise to basketball fame, the life of the Lakers star hasn’t been entirely charmed. In fact, he would face an intensely public and personal hurdle in the early 1990s.
Olympic Gold Medal
Tested Positive
Following a medical examination prior to the 1991-1992 season of the NBA, Magic was tested HIV positive and the player publicly announced in November 1991 not only his diagnostic test but also his immediate withdrawal from basketball. He would finally humbly confess he had slept with several women before finding out about his HIV status. But while this shocking news raked the nation, sports fans gathered around the athlete.
Tested Positive
He Did Not Stop Playing
Indeed, the status of Magic did not stop basketball fans from voting for him on the All-Star game of 1992. And the NBA legend proved its worth by becoming the MVP in that match-up amid objections from other players over his taking part. Selection for the Olympic Games that summer also saw Magic selected — in what would turn out to be amongst the best decisions for Team USA.
He Did Not Stop Playing
The Dream Team
Fortunately, the Dream Team won the 1992 Olympics basketball tournament, winning six of their eight games. Moreover, the fans loved it and on several occasions gave the HIV-positive player standing ovations. Things seemed to be improving for Magic.
The Dream Team
Magic Johnson Foundation
Movingly, the Lakers star had since set up the Magic Johnson Foundation to raise money and support with the fight against HIV/AIDS. And since its founding, the group has supported thousands of young people with more than 38,000 free AIDS assessments across the world, as well as grants and outreach.
Magic Johnson Foundation
Intimate Ceremony
Magic also married his partner, Earlitha Kelly, in an intimate ceremony in Lansing, the same year that Magic discovered his HIV status. Kelly – mostly known as Cookie these days – is a fashion designer and public speaker, and together she and her husband have two children: son EJ, who came to the world in 1992 and daughter Elisa, who was adopted by the couple in 1995.
Intimate Ceremony
Retiring From The League
And while Magic kept playing basketball on and off for the NBA, he eventually retired from the league in 1996 permanently. However t his was not yet the end of his tenure in the sport, though. For example, the former point guard of Lakers brought together the touring squad of Magic Johnson All-Stars; and also spent a short time playing to boot in Europe.
Retiring From The League
Business Venture
Magic would then go into business – which appeared to have proven very fruitful. Magic Johnson Enterprises – formed back in 1987 – now stands at about $700 million. And the investment firm has had its hand in a vast array of projects over the past 30 years, including the Los Angeles Lakers. The former Basketball star has even worked as a moderator of a chat show and has written several books. Yet he isn’t the only one of the Johnson family to make his mark on television.
Business Venture
Pop Culture Icon
Magic ‘s son EJ has become somewhat of a pop culture icon in recent years. The television reality star has chosen a current role in the reality series ‘’Rich Kids of Beverly Hills’’ since officially admitting his sexuality in 2013. He was promoted rapidly to become a main cast member for season two and stayed on the show until its cancelation in 2016.
Pop Culture Icon
Fashion Police
The gender-fluid celebrity has even been a spokesperson on E! Reports and a frequent on Fashion Police. He even ended up landing his own show, EJNYC, after his relocation to the Big Apple, which followed him around New York. The show was also somewhat groundbreaking, being among the first to feature a person of color who is also LGBTQ. Yet unfortunately, E! EJNYC canceled after just six episodes.
Fashion Police
Fashion Career
Lamenting the end of the series, EJ informed The New York Times in 2017, “It was really sad. It was, like, this should have been my series and my time, and it wasn’t what I expected at all. “However, the axing didn’t dissuade the reality star from chasing the limelight any further. From there, EJ took a guest’s appearance on Hollywood’s Real Husbands and planned to start a fashion career as well.
Fashion Career
Not Always Supportive
But it wasn’t always simple for EJ to get to that level of achievement. And as he mentioned in June 2018 on Red Table Talk, family members are not always so supportive when you need them. In actuality, the response of a parent to their child can sometimes be hurtful and surprising-even when both are in the media spotlight.
Not Always Supportive
A Huge Hit
Today, Red Table Talk is renowned for its careful treatment of sensitive subjects. Jada Pinkett Smith, her mom, Adrienne Banfield-Norris, and daughter, Willow, are appearing on the show, tackling everything from motherhood to religion with their famous visitors. And the web series has also proved a huge hit.
A Huge Hit
Emotional Moments
In addition, millions have tuned in to watch the trio since the Facebook Watch series debuted in May 2018, and some have debated issues such as crime, violence, race, and gender. However, these conversations also end in emotional moments-sometimes crying. And the open, no-holds-barred debates are enjoyed not just by the viewers.
Emotional Moments
Red Table Talk
Reviews have also praised Red Table Talk, with The Washington Post paying special attention to the series for its “authenticity.” Nobel prizes have also come the way for the show: it bagged a nomination for the People’s Choice Award in 2018 and a Daytime Emmy Award award the next year.
Red Table Talk
Own Encounter
It was on Red Table Talk that EJ and Cookie, his mom, decided to open up about their own encounters. The mother-and-son pair appeared alongside the trio of hosts specifically to discuss raising LBGTQ children. Yet while EJ is clearly out now and proud, it wasn’t always that way for him.
Own Encounter
No Interest With Girls
In an episode, Cookie narrates a tale about a holiday in Hawaii for the Johnson family. EJ was in his teens at that time and whilst on the trip, she found that her son seemed to have no sexual interest in women. From that time, she explains, “When the guys passed by, [EJ] was like, ‘Ooh! ‘And then the girls walk around and … nothing. So I was like, ‘Hey, we need to have a talk.’
No Interest With Girls
What He Wanted To Hear
Cookie goes on to say, “The conversation wasn’t, ‘You can’t be that.’ The conversation was, ‘Do you believe you are that? However, before you answer that, know that if you are, I’m all right with it.'” That’s perhaps the attitude that every LGBTQ child wishes from their parents. “[EJ] replied, ‘Yeah, I guess I am,’ and I said, ‘Okay.'”
What He Wanted To Hear
The World Will Not Like It
However, although Cookie may have responded well to her son confessing, Magic had taken a different stance. Cookie says she was surprised by her husband’s response when she and EJ actually “had the conversation”. After finding out about EJ ‘s sexuality, the retired NBA player said, “This isn’t what I want for my son,”. Magic allegedly added, “Did you realize what you’re saying? Because the world is not going to like that. Do you want to live this life?”
The World Will Not Like It
A Mother’s Love
So Cookie was shocked by what Magic had said as well as her son. “It hurt my feelings and I know [EJ’s] feelings are hurting,” she says during Red Table Talk. Later, in the wake of that conversation, Cookie says she ‘d told her husband, “That wasn’t right.” And although she didn’t get any answers at the moment, her words seem to have had an impact.
A Mother’s Love
I Need Time
However, despite the forward reaction from Magic, Cookie states her husband went “the very next day” to their son. And from there, EJ continues the story. “He’d been like, ‘We’ll get through this. I need just time.’ So we both just began to weep a little bit.”
I Need Time
Left Home For New York
EJ then left home for New York, not long after the discussion. There, he picked up the spot to study hospitality, design, and event planning at New York University. And he got a visit from Magic during his time at college-which actually led to a night of healing itself.
Left Home For New York
Time Heals
EJ went on to elaborate on the Red Table Talk show, “My father came to get me up for dinner. He held me so closely that he nearly broke my back. From there, I thought, ‘We’ll be okay.'” It looks like time truly was what the former NBA player required to absorb his son’s confession.
Time Heals
A Father’s Unconditional Love
“I really did feel my father’s love,” EJ continues. “I was like at that point, ‘Well what do you know? We’ll be all right.'” And given the difficult time, the reality star thanks to his parents for making him into the individual he is today. “They gave me a strong dose of care and love as well as truth,” he says.
A Father’s Unconditional Love
A Loving Father
And although this may be true, Magic certainly appears to be someone who loves his son and values him. The NBA legend has publicly showcased his support for his kid since EJ’s confession, particularly during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Ellen asked Magic on that period what advice he might be able to give to other LGBTQ kids’ parents.
A Loving Father
Unexpected
Magic replies during the 2017 interview, “I think it’s all about you not having to determine what your daughter or son will be or what you expect them to be. It’s all about loving them no matter who they are or what they want to do. “And it didn’t stop there with the pearls of advice.
Unexpected
Protecting Your Children
The NBA All-Star continues, “You have to protect your kids because so many people are trying to discriminate against them. It’s essential that you are there for them, they need you to push them … If you don’t encourage them, who can protect and respect them? “And this brought the listening crowd to a warm round of applause.
Protecting Your Children
Rejoice For Magic
Furthermore, EJ,s coming out was apparently rejoiced by Magic “I was so happy for him when my son came out-so grateful as parents for [me and Cookie],” he told Ellen. “We just love him. EJ is amazing. ” This proves that father and son have completely come to a place of love and understanding from fraught beginnings.
Rejoice For Magic
Upstander Award
Having helped EJ live the reality with Magic and Cookie, he continues to raise the banner for LGBTQ rights. In addition, due to his activist efforts, the 2019 Human Rights Movement paid tribute to the real personality with the coveted Upstander Award – a recognition that still carries some significance for the Johnsons.
Upstander Award
Genuine Love For Their Son
Furthermore, in 2014 EJ gave his parents the exact same prize. As per the website of the Human Rights Movement, Magic and Cookie have been chosen as beneficiaries “for being advocates for inclusion and expressing their genuine love for their son.” And it all goes to prove that after the early chaos, the powerful family relationship of the Johnsons means they can conquer any challenge.
Genuine Love For Their Son