That's not the man I married,'" she recalls telling him. But Cookie came home one day and said something that "changed my life," Johnson said. However, she was upset when he told her he'd understand if she wanted. In the above clip from "Oprah's Next Chapter," Johnson remembers that fateful day. Even though Johnson had not played a single regular season game, fans voted him onto the NBA All-Star team in 1992. We strive for accuracy and fairness.If you see something that doesn't look right,contact us! When Magic informed Cookie that he had likely contracted the disease via sexual contact, she was more concerned about his well-being. Im his father, so I got to be the first one to say, It's OK and I love you. Magic credits Elizabeth Glaser, who founded the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation after she contracted HIV through a blood transfusion, for bringing out the courage in him to become a public advocate for HIV awareness. "I was a broke college student, and so she had to use her book money so that we could order a pizza and . Johnson explored other options after leaving basketball. Back at home, the news tested the strength of their marriage. EJ is a television celebrity, while Elisa has also made appearances on the big screen. Celebrity traction Johnson and Elizabeth Taylor at a 20 Years of Aids, 20 Years of Hope event in Santa Monica in 2001. Weve lost too many lives that we shouldnt have lost with both Aids and Covid-19 Johnson. Andre is known for staying out of the public eye. "Because she had waited for me, been patient with me, supported me -- and now I'm about to break her heart. He reflected on their marriage again in a 2021 tribute. But there was no greater pressure than driving home to tell her." How long have Magic Johnson and Cookie Johnson been Married. In November 1991, Johnson retired from the Lakers after revealing that he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Johnson met Cookie while she was working as a flight attendant for American Airlines. Two decades later, Magic and Cookie are still married. In the years following Magics diagnosis, he and Cookie have remained active in combating HIV and AIDS. After college, she worked as a fashion buyer for several department stores before marrying Magic on September 14th, 1991. Despite being married to one of the greatest NBA players of all time, Cookie Johnson established a very successful career as an entrepreneur and writer. Magic's HIV is currently undetectable, though the former basketball star must still take a "cocktail once a day" of medications to help keep it under control. Johnson then teamed up with his old rival Bird to write the 2009 book When the Game Was Ours, which explores their rivalry, their experiences on the court and the sport they love. In 1992, he wrote the educational guide What You Can Do to Avoid AIDS. I've been in nine [NBA] Finals, so I know pressure. I'm gonna stay here and help you live. Today, sitting in his offices in California, in a brown executive chair, that famous, dimpled smile beaming down the camera over Zoom, Johnson finds it hard to fathom that this year marks three decades since his diagnosis. Public perception about the disease at the time was widely regarded with ignorance. E! And he was like, "Love your child." A post shared by Cookie Johnson (@thecookiej) on Feb 19, 2017 at 5:38pm PST. "I've played against some of the best basketball players in the world, right? Were finally starting to understand that. He knows how he wants it done. There was also a lot of fear and confusion regarding how the disease could be transmitted. It was preceded by the 6 January insurrection in Washington DC, after which the FBI charged a number of militiamen with plotting to kidnap Michigans Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer. "I wore that white suit for a reason. Sometimes were going in different directions and its so important for marriages to find that time to reconnect., Joshua Jackson Reveals How His Wife Really Feels About His Sex Scenes, Lukas Gage & Chris Appletons Relationship Timeline Is Short AF, Drake Bell's Wife Janet Von Schmeling Files For Divorce, Rachel Weisz & Daniel Craigs Relationship Timeline Includes Babies & Broadway, Get Even More From Bustle Sign Up For The Newsletter. Her brand is sold in over 500 specialty stores in the United States. I'm Earvin. Cookie opened up to Oprah about how Magic broke off. I just knew that this is what made him happy. He remembers in detail how his parents would pack food for the entire drive and eat on the side of the road rather than risk entering an unknown restaurant. Cookie wrote in her 2016 memoir, Believing in Magic about the night he revealed to her that he had been diagnosed with HIV. And it has interesting parallels for today, when the world continues to battle another public health crisis. After an agonizing wait, the couple soon got some wonderful news. Trump asks for mistrial in E. Jean Carroll rape lawsuit, First Republic Bank seized by regulators, then sold to JPMorgan Chase, Reward offered as manhunt for Texas shooting suspect reaches "dead end", Tornado hits Virginia Beach, damaging up to 100 homes, More Americans escape Sudan as country teeters on edge of civil war, Mental health of LGBTQ youth worsening in current "hostile political climate", Stray bullet strikes college baseball player during game, Texas police say, MasterChef Australia host Jock Zonfrillo found dead at 46, Massive clumps of seaweed from giant blob wash up on Florida beaches, Magic and Cookie Johnson on surviving HIV, stopping the stigma and building an empire, Louisiana's health care deserts put women, babies at risk, doctors say, Louisiana doctors detail unintended consequences of state's abortion ban, Carolyn Bryant Donham, key figure in Emmett Till's lynching, has died, Transgender Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr disciplined by GOP-controlled state House, GOP lawmakers seek "disciplinary consequences" for Montana transgender lawmaker. https://t.co/ZOn80OKybA pic.twitter.com/VvUpELS7h2, Sports Photos (@sportsphotos) September 14, 2016. His other ventures include- being co-founder of Love + Light Ventures, LLC in April 2014, and joining The Virtual Reality Company as Head of Business Development. When EJ was on the show, Magic told TMZ that he was very happy for his son to be featured. According to Cookie, Magics ego reached outsized proportions in 2001 after his name was added to the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Johnson, who remains HIV-undetectable to this day, opened up about living with the virus and his career in an exclusive interview for "CBS Mornings" nearly 30 years after he publicly announced his HIV diagnosis. He stunned basketball fans and transformed HIV awareness by announcing his diagnosis in 1991. We have a long way to go. Without those two, he says. E.J., when he walks in a room, this is the most confident guy. He lights up describing the buzz of it. In 1992, he had his latest book, My Life, published. In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly in a small wedding in Lansing which included guests Thomas, Aguirre, and Herb Williams. The couple has been married for 25 years and have three children together. Johnson was instrumental in bringing LeBron James to the Lakers in 2018, and part of his pitch to James was that James would be able to use the city as a base to further his business interests, which now include his own media company and investments in sports clubs, including Liverpool Football Club. We sit down and this guy says: Boy, what you want? he recalls. E.J. EJ is openly gay and Elisa was adopted in 1995. Johnson at an international symposium on HIV and Aids in Tokyo in 1993. uring his 1991 press conference Johnson also made clear that his aspirations in business meant he simply had to go on living. How long has Magic Johnson been married? I plan on going on living for a long time, bugging you guys like I always have, he told reporters, his optimism surprising those who viewed his condition as a death sentence. ", In a 2021 interview with Gayle King on CBS, he explained how his decision and diagnosis weighed on his relationship with Cookie. There they faced off against the Indiana State Sycamores. Cookie and I are in Venice, Italy celebrating our 25th Anniversary! She wrote her booka few years back, which discusses her choice to stay by her husbands side during his HIV diagnosis instead of leaving. According to Cookie, that was the moment she fell in love with him. Magic Johnson's parents, Earl and Christine Johnson, were both African American. The latter was adopted in 1995. Johnson won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player award for his efforts in leading the Lakers to a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers, winning four of six games in the championship series. "I didn't know," Johnson says. They were very supportive of their son and his career. In her interview with Mocha Man Style, Cookie revealed how they maintain their spark. Cookie stood by her husband's side all along, but she initially did not want him to hold the now-famous Nov. 7, 1991 news conference announcing his diagnosis and short-lived retirement because of the stigma surrounding AIDS. Thats what made Showtime.. "We both fell on our knees, and we started crying," she tells Robin Roberts. I thought he was going to take me to Arbys, she said. EJ has become quite popular himself over the years and has appeared on several TV shows including his reality show Rich Kids of Beverly Hills. I've been in championships. During The Lakers ShowTime Era, the team was led by capable players, all of whom played a significant role in the 5 Championships that the Lakers won in the 80s. "I've played against some of the best basketball players in the world, right? She said in the book that going through it was like being in her own personal hell filled with silence and darkness, numbness., She wrote that after telling his wife, he locked himself in a room and called the long list of women with whom hed been intimate. Cookie added in the memoir about the night and experience after, In just one moment our world, this perfect union wed fought so hard and so long to have was obliterated.. Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, 63, was born in Huntsville, Alabama. Johnson and his team continued to be one of the NBA's top competitors throughout the rest of the 1980s. During the 1993-1994 basketball season, Johnson tried his hand at coaching with the Lakers. On September 14, 1991, Magic Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly at the First AME Church in Los Angeles. At the time he learned he had the disease, his wife Cookie was pregnant with their first child. Todd Williamson/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images, receiving the diagnosis that he was HIV positive. "And then the worst thing was Cookie was pregnant with E.J. Theyve continued the tradition long into their marriage, making time for a date each Friday night. Additionally, Johnson, who scored 13 points and added 13 rebounds with 13 assists in Game 6 of the 1982 Finals, earned his second series MVP award. Johnson also shared her heartache as she waited behind closed doors as her husband made phone calls to the various women he had slept with. But there was no greater pressure than driving home to tell her.". The couple celebrated 25 years of marriage in Italy in September 2016 with a big party and trip to Europe. And I lost it. However, their separation only lasted two weeks. "God blessed us when the test results came back on her and the baby that she didn't have HIV and the baby didn't either," Johnson says. Relationship history. When Magic Johnson revealed his HIV diagnosis to his new wife, Cookie Johnson, in 1991, she didn't turn and run away. Cookie Johnson is an entrepreneur, author, philanthropist, and clothing designer. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. It was referred to as "gay cancer" but that's because so little was understood about the disease. In 1991, he announced that he had tested positive for HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. On November 7th, 1991, Earvin "Magic" Johnson sent shockwaves through the basketball community and the world when he announced his abrupt retirement from basketball due to contracting HIV. Johnson and Cookie have one son, . While Magic testing positive for HIV was devastating, its given Cookie a platform to make a difference. I mean, I fell to my knees," she told "Good Morning America" co-anchor Robin Roberts. Now 29, hes gone on to work in fashion, and starred on the E! Its just its not America.. There were his teammates at the Los Angeles Lakers, who embraced him, and would go on to support him when he returned to play again, first as part of the 1992 Olympics dream team and then during another stint at the Lakers. 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. I went to a club. Although Andre was raised by his mother, he visited Johnson each summer, and later worked for Magic Johnson Enterprises as a marketing director. No. The newlyweds had also just found out she was pregnant with their first child, E.J., now 24. Even today, as were talking about it right now, I still cant believe all the events that happened within a year. He did well in his first season (1979-80) with the team, averaging 18 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 7.3 assists per game. Her mother nicknamed her Cookie based on the character from the show 77 Sunset Strip. Youve made me a better man, person, husband, father, and businessman. If you have new or updated information on Magic Johnson dating status, please send us a tip.

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