Cookie recalls, "I just thought, 'forget it. Cookie Johnsons repertoire isnt just limited to speeches that inspire people. Born: August 14, 1959 (age 62) Lansing MichiganAwards and Honors: Most Valuable Player Olympic Games Basketball Hall of Fame (2002) Grammy Award (1992)The son of an autoworker, Johnson earned his nickname Magic in high school for his creative and recreational ballhandling. Im only as good as Cookie. She wrote an autobiography, Believing in Magic, chronicling her experience with Magics diagnosis and how she dealt with the various changes in her life throughout her marriage. The organization has been one of the biggest contributors to the study and prevention of HIV and AIDS for more than 30 years. "Aw man, she went down to the floor, bow bam bam, and I said, 'Oh, I'm all ready,' " he added. Brennan: You go back and you read things from this era and you encounter a lot of nonsense about people being afraid to be in the same room with someone with HIV. [My mind] went to He is possibly going to die. There wasnt a lot of knowledge back in 1991. However, the couple worked through the rollercoaster and came out of it stronger than ever. In an interview, Cookie talked about her initial reaction, saying, It scared me to death. Brennan: The vast majority of those who died from HIV in this period were men who had sex with men. One reason separating was not an option for them was that they had been expecting their first child together. Syrus Yarbrough, who was in our montage at the top of the episode, remembers some of them: Yarbrough: There was all these rumors that flow around, Oh, hes got a lot of money, so he flies over to Europe and they suck all the blood out of his body. That didnt make us look so smart. Magic Johnson: the NBA superstar who smashed HIV stigma He now seemed to realize it would never happen. Andre stays out of the limelight, but on Instagram he frequently posts about his wife Lisa Meyers Johnson and kids, 12-year-old daughter Gigi Johnson and 9-year-old son Avery Johnson. Robert Wade: The only time Ive been as shocked was when I was sitting in the student union at UCLA and they announced over the intercom that JFK had been assassinated. I dont think thats really changed. It was during this year that Johnson married Cookie Kelly and also made her the secretary of The Magic Johnson Foundation. Further, the couple adopted a daughter, Elisa in 1995. Claressa Shields: Net Worth| Baby| MMA| Sherdog. The She has two siblings an older sister Pat and a younger brother Harold Earl. Instead, she was more concerned about how they would keep him alive. I love it! So, lets find out more about her then, shall we? 2023 Cinemaholic Inc. All rights reserved. Cookie Johnson was worried about Magic, but supportive. When Magic Johnson revealed his HIV diagnosis to his new wife, Cookie Johnson, in 1991, she didnt turn and run away. Ako elite prilagoditi odabire, kliknite Upravljanje postavkama zatite privatnosti. "It helped people who were living with not just HIV and AIDS, but with any disease, that you can live on, you can be live a productive life.". I feel the positive vibes through this photo; thanks for sharing. Cookie and Magic first met in 1977 at the Michigan State University during their freshman year. And I think in that, hes a very important symbol of how the narrative around HIV/AIDS has changed since 1991. Cookie was previously a college basketball player Graham-Felsen: There were treatments that were working now, and he was one of the earliest people on these treatments. Who Were Jessie Buss and JoAnn Mueller? She met Magic there while they were students at Michigan State University. He goes from business to business, speech to speech. Its still the toughest thing Ive ever had to do in my life: @MagicJohnson says that he hated having to tell his wife about his HIV diagnosis. Since December 2018, he has been the Vice President of Business Development at a computer gaming company called Mythical Games. Magic Johnson's wife admitted later in life that her most horrifying moment came when the LA Lakers great publicly announced he had HIV. "Ever since the day I laid eyes on you in 1978 I knew you were the one for me. His mother named him Cookie, based on the character from the show 77 Sunset Strip. But 30 years later, the NBA legend is still pursuing his passions, with Cookie by his side. Magic Johnson recalls telling his pregnant wife about his HIV diagnosis in 1991. Earletha Kelly, well recognized as Cookie Johnson, is a wife of veteran NBA star, Magic Johnson. I just think we also need to acknowledge that because he was wealthy and because he was famous, he had some advantages in the fight against HIV that others did not. Cookie is 62 years old and was Their on-and-off relationship eventually led to marriage in September 1991. Get our L.A. Lets order pizza., Cooke agreed, and before long, one of Americas richest men was munching on his first-ever slice of pepperoni. Brennan: Heres a fact I came across while researching this episode: At the time of Magics diagnosis, AIDS had already killed more than 126,000 Americans. Maddox: Yeah, yeah. Maddox: Magic choosing to reveal his diagnosis didnt just shake the culture, though. There was a strong belief, for a brief time at least, that Moncrief, not Magic, would wind up a Laker., Even if he werent the smartest basketball man around, Cooke understood that sports were as much about salesmanship as on-court success. Magic Johnson, left, with World Health Organization official Michael Merson and Sasagawa Health Foundation founder Ryoichi Sasagawa before a 1993 AIDS symposium in Tokyo. In the shot, Cookie lounged casually on a white luxury yacht out at sea. And so if you look at People magazine covers and talk shows and this sort of thing, you see that they divided people with aids into two categories: innocent victims and guilty victims. We mostly stayed in our little black area all the time. Now, we can offer you $400,000. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city. Actually, it was the other way around. Earvin 'Magic' Johnson attends the Los Angeles Football Club stadium groundbreaking ceremony on August 23, 2016 | Photo: Getty Images. At the very least. What is the height of Magic Johnson? And because he defied that quote unquote death sentence, he also provided a model for living with HIV for those who would be diagnosed in the years to come. She has retained that role until now. Jack believed in star power. His full name is Earvin III Johnson. Her brand was a resounding success that allowed her to venture into other platforms that proved shes more than Magic Johnson's wife. Im Matt Brennan, television editor of the Los Angeles Times. Schulman: There was mythology that female sex workers, which could potentially transmit HIV to their male customers and thereby threatened the entire family and all of this kind of thing, which justified police harassment of female sex workers. Magic Johnsons height is 2.06 m (6 9). Cookie did not expect a lot from their first date, but he totally swept her off her feet when he took her to an actual steakhouse. She met Magic Johnson during college at Michigan State Fullilove: There are papers that have been written about the Magic Johnson effect. Forty-five days later, he would receive a terrible diagnosis. There's no way he's going to pick me over all these other women.'". Does it persist to this day? I didnt have time to get mad about whatever happened, you know, or start asking questions. Magic Johnson is now 62 years old (August 14, 1959). Hes good. Supposedly he was doing this every few months. When Larry OBrien, the NBAs commissioner, prepared to flip the coin inside the leagues New York City headquarters, the Bulls and Lakers felt their futures momentarily hovering in midair. Wed love to have you, Earvin, and I hope youll play here. Pizza! Johnson said. Brennan: I mean, a lot of other countries, like just in general, the government provides healthcare. Do you know how much that fish costs?, If its OK with you, Mr. Cooke, I think Id rather have a hamburger and some French fries, Johnson said softly. Max Borenstien: I remember literally where I was. Ahead of the 191-92 NBA Season, Magic Johnson discovered tested positive for HIV andmade a public announcement that he would retire immediately. It was a warm May afternoon in Los Angeles, and the most dynamic player to grace college basketball since Louisiana States Pete Maravich a decade earlier was in town to figure out whether he should return to Michigan State University for his junior season or jump to a professional sports league that had been crippled by poor TV ratings, player indifference and a dwindling fan base. In this particular case, however, Hearn one of the few men who had the owners ear intervened. That is how many people that it killed. The draft was still two months away, and both sides wanted to know whether a partnership could be reached. He deserves credit for that., Former Former manager Claire Rothman on Jack Kent Cooke, West wanted Moncrief, and he made it very clear to Jack Kent Cooke, said Rich Levin, who covered the team for the Los Angeles Herald-Examiner. Maddox: For those 126,000 people, was it just as though they died and everyone was like, Well, we have a name for it and we know what it does, but we, you know, theres no answer? On Tuesday, Magic, 63, appeared on the Jennifer Hudson Show and told host Jennifer Hudson about "the beautiful situation" of a mutual friend introducing him to Cookie, also 63, during a party at Michigan State University in the late '70s. I think that she was the most important person in his life at that time to help him and help me also at the same time, Magic says. But in terms of the culture around it, I dont know. She is also a self-made woman who has built an impeccable reputation as an entrepreneur, philanthropist, author and designer. Magic Johnson announces his HIV diagnosis and retirement from the Lakers on Nov. 7, 1991, with NBA Commissioner David Stern and teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at his side. Matt Brennan: That was Robert Wade, Rob and Mary Weiss, Jim Hecht, Max Borenstein, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Syrus Yarbrough and Jeff Pearlman remembering the day Magic Johnson announced this diagnosis. I forget, it was like in the Athletic or the Ringer or something about Fauci being a point guard at the beginning of the pandemic. And I think thats what led to so many things hes done. Who is Magic Johnson's wife Cookie? | The US Sun - The Sun OK, gentlemen, here we go, boomed the deep voice of OBrien. Magic explained that by the end of the evening, he was determined to get Cookie's phone number, so he waited by the door of the party as guests left. Most people heard an HIV diagnosis as a quote unquote death sentence. Is that just where they were at? Cookie and Magic's first child was named EJ, who has become an influential TV celebrity. Magic Johnson and his wife Cookie enjoy spending time with family and loved ones. On September 14, 1991, Magic Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly at the First AME Church in Los Angeles. Brennan: Were you aware of Magic Johnson as someone who was living with HIV when you were growing up in the 90s? Lakers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, left, and Magic Johnson cover Philadelphia 76ers Caldwell Jones in Game 1 of the 1980 NBA Finals. He stated that Cookie and their unborn are safe from the disease and that he would dedicate his life to battle this deadly disease. After graduating from university, she worked in retail and eventually relocated to Los Angeles, California to work for a sportswear company. And were going to talk about that after this break. A statue of Magic Johnson resides outside Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles. Yet it was his charisma, especially at his precocious age, that floored people. Magic Johnson and his wife, Cookie Johnson, have overcome everything from infidelities to illnesses throughout their relationship and now live in a stunning Los And I think it was something that I was aware of, even if I was too young to know what that meant. And instead, President Ronald Reagan didnt even say the name of the illness until 1985, after it had already killed thousands of people. Are They Dead or Alive? Magic says he encouraged his wife to tell her side of the story in her book, Believing in Magic. Aside from him, they also have a daughter named Elisa. We believe that every person's story is important as it provides our community with an opportunity to feel a sense of belonging, share their hopes and dreams. 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Brennan: What struck me about Magic was that he was, like, the one person where it didnt seem I dont want to say that it didnt seem like a big deal because I dont want to diminish what he went through, but he made it seem manageable in a way that I think contrasted very sharply with the other messages that we were getting about HIV and AIDS in the 1990s. The only thing he knows is hamburger and pizza. A resigned Cooke sighed, then yelled toward the kitchen, Can we have a hamburger?, A hamburger! he screamed. Those are the two things that I, you know, the kind of thing where you remember exactly where you were when you heard about it. Fine, said Chick Hearn, the announcer, who also worked as an assistant general manager with the team. And well talk about that right after the break. I never asked her to dance, he says. However, she was upset when he told her hed understand if she wanted out. This week were tackling the moment that marked the end of Showtime: Magic Johnsons 1991 announcement that he had HIV and was retiring from the NBA, effective immediately. And I think the feeling and this is, I think, an accurate assessment was that more or less the government had decided that it was acceptable for all of those people to die because they were gay. Magics wife Earlitha Cookie Johnson was pregnant with EJ when he found out he had HIV. Magic Johnson As impressive as he was on tape, soaring past defenders, connecting on impossible no-look passes, spinning left, driving right, he was significantly more dazzling in person. Cookie shares her perspective of the diagnosis in her new memoir, Believing in Magic. [She] slapped me really hard, Magic tells PEOPLE. 2004-2023 CBS Interactive. Maddox: And 126,000 were over how many years, roughly? He had been nicknamed Magic as a fifteen-year-old high school freshman and now, having just led the Spartans to their first NCAA mens basketball title, he could not walk the streets without being mobbed. He tried to coach again; he quit. Gail was great, said Bill Bertka, the Jazz vice president of basketball operations. Were talking about racial disparities. You can give Magic credit for bringing an entirely new kind of attention to the AIDS crisis without papering over the hard work of a generation of activists before him who had pushed for attention to HIV/AIDS. The pair reportedly dated while he and Cookie Kelly were on We provide you with the latest breaking news and videos straight from the entertainment industry. Anthony Fauci played point guard in high school and hes like, um, what did he call it? Brennan: And the various styles of point guard over the generations? I know when I come here [home], Im not Magic. In her caption, she shared that she was "savoring the moments." Lansing, like most large cities in the midwest, was de facto Despite the prevailing racial tensions in the country during her childhood, Cookie was shielded from it for the most part. While Johnson can now attest to 30 years of life after being diagnosed with HIV, his journey living with the disease has been far from easy. Time and again, Magic Johnson has proven to be a family man through and through. And well also talk about the years that followed his successes off and back on the court, and what that meant for millions of people. Check your local listings for airtimes. Brennan: Yeah. At the time of Magic Johnson's diagnosis, there was a strong stigma around HIV and AIDS. Maddox: It makes sense then that at the time, there were rumors at the time about what kind of treatment Magic was receiving. Sam Graham-Felsen pointed to a direct connection between Magics personal care team and the emergence of a key treatment that made living with HIV possible. Andre wrote in the caption, Thank you for teaching us how to act, not with words, but for always being a blessing to those around us. I love you and enjoy my day to rest.Andre doesnt post much online about his professional life, but according to his LinkedIn page, he was the vice president of his fathers investment company, Magic Johnson Enterprises, from 2012 to 2014. The former NBA player is also a former player of the Los Angeles Lakers star team. Ive been a competitor my whole life. Syrus Yarbrough: I was playing my first year at Santa Monica College. Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, 63, was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Magic Johnson "And then I meet Cookie first, and the rest is history. They spent the night chatting together like old friends, and that was the moment she found herself falling in love. He said last year that telling Cookie was the "hardest" thing he ever had to do. And it leaves this big sort of gaping hole in American gay culture. Um, and he, there was a whole article. Magic Johnson Also, he is a part of a group of investors that purchased the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2012 and the Los Angeles Sparks in 2014. To this day, HIV and AIDS are still topics that not many are very familiar with. Magic Johnson Mi, Yahoo, dio smo grupacije robnih marki Yahoo. After protests from his teammates, he retired again for four years, but returned to play 32 games for the Lakers before retiring for the third and final time in 1996, at the age of 36. Why, immediately after the draft, Cooke told those within his small circle of confidants that the team could have gone with Sidney Moncrief, the high-scoring guard from the University of Arkansas. He quit again. Were getting Magic! . Brennan: I think those rumors are a product of just how unbelievable it seemed that he would be able to survive. EJ starred in the E! Chicago, do you want to make the call? OBrien asked. She later If you worked in HIV, people wondered whether or not just brushing up against you could produce an infection. But there was no greater pressure than driving home to tell her.". Brennan: Whats your reaction to the contrast between what everyone else expected to happen and what Magic expected to happen? Magic was drawn to Cookie almost immediately when they began dating as college students at Michigan State University. Beginning with that very moment, staring at a peppy teenager biting some meat, Hearn knew something about Johnson sparkled. That was the only response we had. I was at my student newspaper. Read More:Who Were Jessie Buss and JoAnn Mueller? The sixty-one-year-old holds an American nationality who came from the Afro-American ethnic background. Magic and Cookie wed in Sept. 1991, after some ups and downs in their relationship. A bare rocky outcrop in the middle of the ocean made for a perfect backdrop but did not distract from the true star of the shoot. His full name is Earvin III Johnson. I am a student and a blogger all alone, Gurmeet. Cookie was also newly pregnant with their first child, son Earvin III "E.J." I mean, I fell to my knees. Los Angeles, meanwhile, was but a dream to Johnson, who rightly envisioned a paradise of palm trees and 80-degree days and gorgeous women in wallet-size bikinis. AIDS meant death. She later completed her bachelors degree in textile clothing from Michigan State University, where she met Magic Johnson. The job you've done as a mother and now a grandmother has been an honor to witness and I am so proud to call you my wife. Magic Johnson has three children. The $500,000 contract made Johnson the highest-paid rookie in league history. The coins in the air.. Magic Johnson What is the salary of Magic Johnson? Magic Johnson and wife Cookie Johnson arrive at the 2014 Carousel of Hope Ball on October 11, 2014. And it was, for a lot of people, it was a death sentence for people who deserved to die. Jeff Pearlman: I was in college. Brennan: Dr. Fullilove described Magics impact in the broad strokes, too. Cause its new blood. Moments later, the plates arrived. However, that decision to stay, he says, likely saved his life. One of the focal points of the show is the Lakers drafting of Earvin Magic Johnson. What are you talking about? he said. Super funny. Even though they had just been married for 45 days leaving him never occurred to her. Who is Magic Johnson's wife, Cookie Johnson? All you need to Pearlman: Nobody lives with this. Fortunately, he was born a healthy baby on June 4, 1992. Terms of Use, Cookie Johnson and love of her life, Magic Johnson. Brennan: What hasnt changed about HIV since Magics diagnosis I mean, again, we dont want to undersell how important it was that he came out, that he became an advocate for more resources and attention. Magic Johnson - Wikipedia He had it.. Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson has become a living testament to advances in medicine that have turned human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from a death sentence into something that can be managed and lived with. Maybe wed go to the store and see white people. Magic Johnson, however, learned from his humiliating mistake to make something great come out of it. Magic Johnson, whose real name is Earvin Johnson, got his nickname in high school from a sportswriter who witnessed him rack up 36 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists in one game. Maddox: Theres micro-communities, I would say, that have started to address this issue that youre talking about, but the way we talk about stuff in the States with regards to sexual health, especially yeah, no, I wouldnt imagine that it has changed that much. Magic Johnson's Wife Cookie: How They Met, Married, Kids When Hudson, 41, expressed skepticism about how Cookie might have reacted to her college roommate trying to date Magic instead, the NBA legend reminded the host that this coincidentally happened before Magic and Cookie actually met. Magic launched a business empire. Andre is now married. Earvin "Magic" Johnson knew he wanted to be with his wife Cookie since the first night they met. Magic Johnson only has three confirmed children in real life. Salli Richardson-Whitfield: I was in Jamaica at a golf tournament. I think the thing that strikes me the most about hearing that montage is the phrase death sentence being repeated over and over. Another pause. A look at the professional career of Magic Johnson's wife, Cookie Johnson. They have a son, EJ, and adopted a girl, Elisa, in 1995. I knew that she was a special woman when I told her she could leave and she decided to stay with me and support me, he adds. 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Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up to date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Magic Johnson, right, deals blackjack at a March 1992 event to raise money for the newly formed Magic Johnson Foundation to fund education about HIV and AIDS. reality show titled Rich Kids of Beverly Hills from 2014 to 2016. Who is Magic Johnson married to? Here, he poses for a photo with his wife, Cookie Johnson, center, and his parents, Earvin Johnson Sr. and Christine Johnson. Gave. In 1981, Magic welcomed his first child, Andre Johnson, with a woman named Melissa Mitchell. The team signed thirty-three-year-old Gail Goodrich, a long-ago star on his last legs. And we were desperate to get them to cover it. Fox says it's 'very possible' he 'did some damage' in the '80s as he speculates about what contributed to his Parkinson's disease, 'Waste of time': Community college transfers derail students. If you were doing HIV work in 1990, you were basically engaged in prevention. Brennan: I didnt realize that Anthony Fauci, Dr. Fauci . Cookie has been candid in the past about how she felt after receiving the news from Magic. Isn't that crazy?" The former American basketball Magic, a basketball star on campus, every girl wanted to meet him. He came back. She later admitted that she found it hard to find anything for her size, which pushed her to open the premium denim line. Kad upotrebljavate naa web-mjesta i aplikacije, upotrebljavamo, Upravljanje postavkama zatite privatnosti, provjeru autentinosti korisnika, primjenu sigurnosnih mjera te sprjeavanje neeljenog sadraja i zloupotrebe, mjerenje vae upotrebe web-mjesta i aplikacija, prikaz personaliziranih oglasa i sadraja na temelju profila interesa, mjerenje uinkovitosti personaliziranih oglasa i sadraja. Maddox: Oh, wait, do you not remember the, uh so remember at the beginning of the pandemic? Sam Graham-Felsen, the Fiasco podcast producer who appeared earlier this season to talk about the Lakers-Celtics rivalry, also produced a season about the AIDS crisis and he cited Hollywood actor Rock Hudson, who died in 1985, as an example of someone who stigma forced to keep the illness a secret. He was a man whod spent years working multiple blue-collar jobs, struggling alongside his wife, Christine, a school cafeteria worker, to feed their ten children. Before the Magic of the Showtime years, however, the Lakers needed a little luck. When she was six years old, she moved to Detroit, Michigan from Huntsville, Alabama. And as time went on, it never changed., A post shared by Cookie Johnson (@thecookiej). Magic Johnson's Wife Cookie Johnson; Their Married Life. How many women did Magic Johnson sleep with before he got She also talked about learning EJ was gay, adding, I was still trying to figure it out. Johnson was pivotal in helping to lessen that stigma, as he not only managed to find a way forward and live with the disease, but also returned to playing basketball. Despite her fame and money, shes never lost her desire to help those in need. Seared into your memory. Her book "Believing in Magic" highlights all she and Magic have gone through together and how she dealt with the sad news. Behind HBOs Winning Time: The real story of Magic Johnson, Jerry Buss and the 1980s Lakers, and how they changed the NBA and America. made a public announcement that he would retire immediately. Cooke was outraged. "I wanted to make sure that she was going to be okay, the baby was going to be okay, and then I can move forward with making sure I was going to be okay," the former Lakers president said.