*Magic Johnson and his gay son Earvin “EJ” Johnson are speaking out about their bond and how EJ coming out changed the NBA icon.
“It wasn’t new for me, but they had to really take that in and digest it,” EJ, 29, told Variety about his parents’ initial reaction to his sexuality.
“Especially my dad, because he was really the last person to talk to. I think it was just a lot for him to swallow in that conversation. A lot of just going back and forth. And he just was rattling off about things that weren’t particularly nice. But he’s not somebody who works great being cornered or surprised,” he continued.
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“He’d come up with stupid rules: ‘No scarves in the house,’ ” EJ said of his father after he came out. “But it’s really not about scarves; it’s really about him seeing you be you.”
EJ came out to his parents in 2010 and publicly in 2013 when TMZ posted a video of him holding hands with his lover at the time.
When EJ left for college in 2013 to attend New York University, his father appeared to have a change of heart.
“I had only been gone for two months,” EJ recalled of the time Johnson came to visit him at college. “He picked me up at my dorm and I was like, ‘Oh, whatever, hey.’ And he hugged me so hard — he was, like, squeezing all the air out of me. That’s when I knew, there’s nothing but love here,” EJ said.
“He changed me. He was so proud. This dude here is just so proud of who he is,” said Johnson of his son.
