Magic Johnson: Personal life and His Commitment against AIDS
Personal life
Johnson first fathered a son in 1981, when Andre Johnson was born to Melissa Mitchell. Although Andre was raised by his mother, he visited Johnson each summer, and as of October 2005 was working for Magic Johnson Enterprises as a marketing director. In 1991, Johnson married Earlitha "Cookie" Kelly, with whom he had one son, Earvin III; the couple adopted a daughter, Elisa, in 1995.
In 1998, Johnson hosted a late night talk show on the Fox network called The Magic Hour, but the show was canceled after two months due to low ratings. He runs Magic Johnson Enterprises, a company that has a net worth of $700 million; its subsidiaries include Magic Johnson Productions, a promotional company; Magic Johnson Theaters, a nationwide chain of movie theaters; and Magic Johnson Entertainment, a movie studio. Johnson has also worked as a motivational speaker. He is a supporter of the Democratic Party—in 2005, he publicly endorsed Phil Angelides for governor of California, and Hillary Clinton for president of the United States. Johnson was an NBA commentator for Turner Network Television for seven years, before becoming a studio analyst for ESPN's NBA Countdown in 2008.
After announcing his infection in November 1991, Johnson created the Magic Johnson Foundation to help combat HIV, although he later diversified the foundation to include other charitable goals. In 1992, he joined the National Commission on AIDS, but left after eight months, saying that the commission was not doing enough to combat the disease. He was also the main speaker for the United Nations (UN) World AIDS Day Conference in 1999, and has served as a United Nations Messenger of Peace.
HIV had been associated with drug addicts and homosexuals, but Johnson's campaigns sought to show that the risk of infection was not limited to those groups. Johnson stated that his aim was to "help educate all people about what [HIV] is about" and teach others not to "discriminate against people who have HIV and AIDS". Johnson was later criticized by the AIDS community for his decreased involvement in publicizing the spread of the disease.
To prevent his HIV infection from becoming AIDS, Johnson takes a daily combination of drugs from GlaxoSmithKline and Abbott Laboratories. He has advertised GlaxoSmithKline's drugs,[91] and partnered with Abbott Laboratories to publicize the fight against AIDS in African American communities.
