Magic Johnson has shut down a wild rumor that has been getting a lot of attention on Twitter this past week when a tweet claiming he had drawn blood to donate to Covid-19 patients went viral. The since-deleted tweet was accompanied by a photo of the 63-year-old with his right arm out while a needle is visibly seen puncturing his skin.
The snap originated from a 2012 documentary titled “Endgame: AIDS in Black America,” where Johnson was asked to draw blood by his physician. But people on Twitter were outraged, under the apparent assumption that the former NBA star had actually donated his blood in an effort to tackle coronavirus. “Earlier today, NBA legend Magic Johnson donated his blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities fight COVID-19.”
I’m aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) August 23, 2022
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The tweet had gained enough attraction for Johnson to issue a response as he took to his own Twitter account on Tuesday to shut down the absurd claim, writing, “I’m aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood.”
Johnson first announced his HIV diagnosis back in 1991 during a press conference that stunned basketball fans at the time. He then followed up with the news he would be immediately retiring from the NBA, adding he had found out about his condition following a physical exam earlier in the year.
In a 2021 interview with CBS Mornings, the Michigan native said he had “no greater pressure” when telling his wife Cookie about his diagnosis. Johnson said that by revealing his HIV status to the love of his life had him worried she would feel “hurt” by it, but “there was no greater pressure than driving home to tell her.”
“The key moment was when Cookie took the test and the results came back that she and the baby was fine,” he remembered, telling Gayle King that he was scared to death of the results coming back with a different outcome.
“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.”
dat magic johnson joke been circulating like 10 years now and he gon address it today that dude funny man lmfao
— 🦅 (@JYZOVRRTED) August 23, 2022
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Cookie later injected to speak on the time Johnson had made his announcement to the world, vividly recalling the stigma that surrounded those who lived with HIV. It initially wanted her to tell her husband not to move ahead with the press conference, in fear of how people would look at not only the athlete but also her for sticking by him.
“At that time, people weren’t educated, so they thought you couldn’t touch people. You couldn’t hug people. And I didn’t want people to treat us like we were lepers,” she said.