Connect with us

Arts & Entertainment

EJ Johnson recalls crying with dad Magic Johnson after coming out

The former Los Angeles Lakers player had a ‘tough’ time at first

Published

on

EJ Johnson, son of Magic Johnson. (Screenshot via YouTube)

EJ Johnson and his mother Cookie Johnson recounted the emotional time for their family when EJ came out while speaking with Jada Pinkett Smith on her Facebook Watch series “Red Table Talk.”

Cookie remembers she was the first to notice EJ’s sexuality when he was 15 years old.

“We went to Hawaii once and I’m sitting behind him and his friend,” Cookie says.”The girls go by in their bathing suits and the guys go by and when the guys go by, they were like, ‘Whoa! Hey!’ and then girls go by and nothing. So I was like, okay, we need to have a talk.”

When EJ decided to come out to his father, Magic Johnson, Cookie admits it was a hard conversation for everyone.

“We had the talk with Dad and that was a little tough,” Cookie begins. “My husband is the kind of person like he reacts quickly. Everything that came to the top of his head, he just let it out.”

“It hurt my feelings and I know it probably hurt [EJ’s] feelings.” Cookie says. She recounts Magic saying “This is not what I wanted for my son. And do you realize what you’re saying because the world is not going to like that and do you want to live this life?”

“Afterwards, I told him, I said, ‘I thought that was a little tough. That wasn’t right.’ Then he didn’t say anything,” Cookie continued.

EJ says the next day his father came into his room “And was like, ‘We’re going to get through this and I just need time.’ And we both started crying a little bit.”

Despite the emotional moment, EJ says his relationship with his father didn’t improve until he went away to college.

“But then, I moved to New York to go to college and when he came back to visit, he picked me up for dinner and was like…he hugged me so hard, he almost broke my back and then at that point I was like, we’re gonna be okay. I could really feel the love. We’re gonna be fine,” EJ says.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Photos

PHOTOS: World Pride March

LGBTQ rights demonstration held in Amsterdam

Published

on

A scene from the 2026 World Pride March in Amsterdam. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

View on Threads
View on Threads
View on Threads
Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: Daddy Issues at Kiki

Evry Pleasure, Tiara Missou-Sidora, Indiana Bones perform

Published

on

Evry Pleasure performs at the 'Daddy Issues' drag show at Kiki on Wednesday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Continue Reading

Books

Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?

‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia

Published

on

(Book cover image courtesy of St. Martin's Essentials)

‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages

Mom called you in a panic the other day.

She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.

These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.

You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?

Chin says maybe, yes.

He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.

Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.

Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.

Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.

Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”

Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.

Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.

Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.

Continue Reading

Popular