For some members of the LGBTQ community, ‘coming out’ is no easy task and that can be said for EJ Johnson.
EJ, the flamboyant youngest son of NBA legend Magic Johnson, recently revealed that his famous dad broke down and cried when he came out as gay.
In the latest episode of Jada Pinkett Smith’s Facebook series, Red Table Talk, EJ and his mother, Cookie Johnson, detail how the 26-year-old finally revealed his truth to his parents and his father’s initial harsh reaction.
Details + video below…
During the candid conversation, Cookie, 59, admits that she knew her son was different when he was 3 and wanted to wear princess costumes to school. A young EJ also had a particular affinity for women’s shoes and prioritized picking flowers in the outfield while playing baseball as a child.
When EJ was 15, his mother was there to witness an encounter between her son and his friend and knew it was time to have a discussion.
“We went to Hawaii once and I’m sitting behind him and his friend,” Cookie said.
“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.”
?We had the talk with Dad and that was a little tough,? Cookie, 59, told Jada. ?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.?
She continued…
It hurt my feelings and I know it probably hurt [EJ?s] feelings. Afterwards, I told him, I said, ‘I thought that was a little tough. That wasn?t right.’ Then he didn?t say anything.
Cookie recalled Magic, 58, 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??
“And was like, ‘We?re going to get through this and I just need time.’ And we both started crying a little bit…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.”