![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() It would be five years before the invention of the life-saving “triple cocktail” drug therapy that would no longer mean HIV infection was a death sentence.Īt the time, very few celebrities had gone public with an HIV diagnosis and none with as many adoring fans as Johnson, who admitted to having contracted the disease from unprotected heterosexual sex. In 1991, HIV/AIDS was still largely seen as a disease that affected gay men and drug addicts - despite its growing encroachment in the African American community. The announcement, 20 years ago today, came as a shock: “Because of the HIV virus I have obtained, I will have to retire today from the Lakers,” Earvin “Magic” Johnson, with his wife Cookie at his side, told a packed room of sports reporters, many of whom cried when they heard the news. We’ve updated the post with an edited transcript of his extended interview, which was conducted on June 16, 2011. Note: In November 2011, we published these video excerpts of Magic Johnson’s interview with FRONTLINE on the 20th anniversary of his HIV diagnosis. ![]()
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