Magic Johnson Admits It Took Him Awhile to Accept His Gay Son

Yesterday on Good Morning America, Magic Johnson, NBA star who came out as HIV positive in 1991, and his wife Cookie sat down to discuss Cookie’s new memoir, Believing in Magic. During the interview, both she and Magic discuss what it was like to learn that their son E.J. was gay and how they came to terms with it.

The Johnson’s realized early on that E.J. was gay. Cookie said of EJ:

“Ultimately you want your child to be happy. But I also knew that [Magic] didn’t understand.”

Magic had a conversation with E.J. when he came out, telling him that he didn’t want him to be gay. However, later on, Magic came to terms and apologized to his son.

“I had to come to realize that this is who he is, and he’s going to be happy,” said Magic. “I knew he was looking for me to accept who he was, and I had to get out of my own way. Out of my macho –”

Cookie interrupts, “And he couldn’t let me tell him, you know he had to come to terms with it himself.”

Magic did eventually come to terms with his son being gay. He asked himself: “And so why am I judging him? I’m his father, so I got to be the first one to say, ‘It’s OK and I love you. Now, how can I help you?’”

E.J. is a reality star on E! News. Magic says E.J. has a bit of both of them in him: “The soul comes from her and his mindset is like his dad and that’s what I love about him.”

Check out part of the interview below: