Does Cookie Johnson have AIDS 32 years later?

• Cookie Johnson is married to retired NBA star and billionaire Magic Johnson
• He tested positive for HIV in 1991
• His wife Cookie Johnson was pregnant at the time

When legendary NBA player Magic Johnson revealed his positive HIV status, many people wondered does Cookie Johnson have AIDS.  The couple married in 1991 and 32 years later, they are still together despite their discordant HIV/AIDS status.

Incidentally, it was early in their marriage that Johnson learnt that he was HIV positive. He shockingly disclosed it to the public, but not before summoning the courage to tell his wife Cookie about it. The retired Lakers player visualized a separation from his wife before disclosing his status to her but it’s been three decades now together.

DID MAGIC JOHNSON HAVE A WIFE?

Johnson only had and still has one wife, Cookie. The pair got married in 1991 when he was an active player with the Los Angeles Lakers. She is an author and philanthropist per excellence. One of her famous books, Believing in Magic, talks to length about love, how to keep faith, and how to overcome challenges in life.

Magic Johnson. Photo by Derek White/Getty Images

Bestselling author, Denene Millner of the New York Times also contributed to authoring this book. Besides her work as a writer, cookie runs the Magic Johnson Foundation where she serves as the Secretary of the Board of Directors. The Foundation is critical in representing the voice of underserved communities and champions the availability of social, health and educational programs in these communities.

DOES COOKIE JOHNSON HAVE AIDS?

Johnson, in 1991, was notified by Micahel Mellman who was the team doctor for the Los Angeles Lakers that he tested HIV positive. He was shocked and terrified thinking about his wife who was pregnant with their firstborn. This, for many years, sparked curiosity on does Cookie Johnson have AIDS?

Fortunately, she is HIV-negative. The Johnsons are among the world’s first discordant partners. In a past interview with Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Johnson said that the longest drive in his life was from the Lakers’ training centre to his home. He felt terrible that he had hurt the woman he loved.  Breaking such kind of news wasn’t easy either and he feared that the worst would happen.

He had no choice and he sat her down. Cookie, a graduate of Michigan State University was shocked and had a rush of untold emotion. But the defining moment was when she took an HIV test and it came back negative.

“The key moment was when Cookie took the test and the results came back that her and the baby was fine,” recalls the former NBA star.

WHY DID COOKIES STAY WITH MAGIC?

Cookie Johnson. Photo/YouTube

You would expect – besides questioning does Cookie Johnson have AIDS – that she would leave her husband. However, the couple stayed together. Johnson, a nine-time NBA Finals player, praises Cookie for being supportive and loyal. These two attributes kept him alive when he felt he was done living and hurt those who loved him.

He constantly admits that he would choose death over living if Cookie left him because she is the one who gave him a reason to live. Managing the virus in the 90s wasn’t as easy as it is in 2024. A patient needed a strong support system emotionally and medication to suppress the viral load.

The Johnsons are now a big and happy family with three children; EJ Johnson, Elisa Johnson and Andre Johnson. He has an undetectable viral load due to his ARV medication. While he is a billionaire businessman, Johnson is one of the activists on HIV/AIDS in America. His foundation through Cookie is involved in projects aimed at reducing the rapid spread of the virus. It offers sensitization and testing programmes, mostly to minority communities to tame new infections.

WHO IS THE MOTHER OF MAGIC JOHNSON’S FIRST CHILD?

Melissa Mitchel gave Johnson his first child, Andre Johnson in 1981 during their short dating spree in Michigan. Mitchel stayed on with Andre but often visited Johnson and his family during the summer.  Andre, now married with two children, is an executive in one of his father’s firms, Magic Johnson Enterprises. Despite growing up in Michigan with his mother, Andre established a strong bond with his father who was in Los Angeles.

CONCLUSION

Over and above concerns about does Cookie Johnson have AIDS; the Magic Johnson Foundation is integral in the fight against the disease. Its programs serve minority, underserved populations across the US to the tune of $15 billion. Moreover, Cookie inspires generations of women with her selflessness.