In the late 1970s, Magic Johnson Wife and Cookie Johnson initially crossed paths at Michigan State University. For more than thirty years, Magic Johnson has been wed to Cookie Johnson.
Magic Johnson Wife
The former basketball player has always claimed that Cookie has been a source of meaning in his life, despite the fact that he is most known worldwide for coaching the Los Angeles Lakers during the Showtime era of the 1980s.
The pair, who had been dating for more than ten years after meeting at Michigan State University in 1978, was married in 1991 and went on to have two kids.
“My wife and my family are the reasons I live today and put in so much effort at work,” Magic stated to People in September 2016.
About two months after the wedding, on November 7, 1991, Magic declared his retirement from the NBA due to HIV. In the same 2016 interview
she revealed to People that she gave Cookie the option to end the relationship, which Magic remembered as the hardest thing she had ever done.
But she stuck with him, and Magic believes that her devotion saved his life. Without a certain, I would be dead by now if Cookie had disappeared, he remarked.
Who is the wife of Magic Johnson, then? Everything you need to know about Cookie Johnson’s connection to the NBA legend is provided here.
Alabama is where he was born.
In Huntsville, Alabama, Arlitha Kelly gave birth to Cookie. He has two siblings: a younger brother and an older sister. He is the middle child.
He was named after his mother Cora, who first called him “Cookie” after Ed Byrnes’ character from the television series 77 Sunset Strip, and father Earl, according to AL.com.
She finally spelled it “Cookie” instead, and when she was six years old, her family moved to Michigan.
I’m from Detroit,” Cookie declared to the publication. “But Huntsville is where my roots are.”
In college, he got to know Magic. When Magic was a student at Michigan State University in the late 1970s, Cookie also met Magic.
Before the Christmas break, Magic, a freshman, had already been well-known in the community as an athlete, having met him at a college party.
“I never asked her to dance,” he claimed in a People interview from 2016. “I just watched her dance, and I said, ‘I want to know that woman.’
He requested her for her number before he left the party and kept in touch with her all through the intermission. The following semester, when classes resumed, they began dating.
In 1991, he and Magic tied the knot.
On September 14, 1999, the longtime pair tied the knot in a small ceremony in Magic’s hometown of Lansing, Michigan.
It was not an easy journey to the altar, though. Before Magic proposed, Cookie and Magic had split up and then gotten back together multiple times during the course of their decades-long romance. Additionally
he was on the verge of calling off the engagement due to various uncertainties and hesitations regarding marriage.
In her 2022 Apple TV+ documentary They Call Me Magic, Cookie discussed that trying time.
“Well, you know, after all we’ve been through, it’s not… I can’t do that,” she remembered him saying to her. Therefore, we’re Are if you decide to call off the engagement.
After resolving their disagreements, Magic and Cookie were married for more than 30 years. The NBA player honored the couple’s 32nd anniversary
with a charming Instagram clip including images of them taken throughout the years.
I’m celebrating my 32-year wife, Cookie Johnson, on this amazing anniversary today and for many years to come,” Magic said as the post’s description.
He said, “I appreciate your eternal love and encouragement that you give me every day.”
She gave birth to the couple’s son Erwin “EJ” Johnson III in 1992, and in 1994, they adopted their daughter Alyssa Johnson. She had two children with Magickookie.
In addition, Cookie is the stepmother to Magic’s firstborn child, Andre Johnson, whom he welcomed in 1981 while on vacation with his ex-girlfriend Melissa Mitchell.
The family is well-known for making red carpet appearances together. E.J. E! She also starred in her own spinoff series, EJNYC, and Season 4 of Rich Kids of Beverly Hills.
The year of his birth coincided with Magic’s. Cookie was born on January 20, 1959, while Magic was born on August 14 of the same year, making Cookie six months older than Magic.
For their joint 60th birthday in 2019, the couple threw a weekend-long celebration in St. B. Vance was among the celebrities in attendance.
“What an incredible start to celebrating our 60th birthday tomorrow, I can’t wait to see what Arvin has planned for tonight!!” Cookie wrote on Instagram after posting a peak of their party.
Every year, she goes on a boat excursion with Magic.
Magic and Cookie are well-known for their yearly opulent boat excursions with well-known pals like LL Cool J and Samuel L. Jackson.
The committee investigated a route in 2021 that passed through the ports of Sardinia, Capri, and Sorrento on its way from Greece to Italy.
His 281-foot yacht featured two massage rooms, a hair salon, a gym, and seven guest bedrooms. A party deck and a full bar are also included.
Magic wrote on Instagram, “A beautiful day in Zakynthos, Greece, overlooking the city with our two best friends on this earth who we love so much,
beside a picture of Holly Robinson, Rodney Peet, Cookie, as well as herself. Are.
The pair, along with their pals Jackson and Judge Greg Mathis and their spouses, rented a 296-foot superyacht in July 2023. The group traveled to ports in Greece, France, and Italy.
He had dinner at the renowned Da Paolino restaurant in Capri with Michael Jordan and his spouse, Yvette Prieto.
Magic gives Cookie and her friends a surprise picture shoot in Antalya, Greece, before the trip finishes. Every woman was dressed in “flying dresses” with long, dramatic trains.
Cookie, my spouse, looks lovely in her gold flying garment!” The NBA analyst posted a sequence of images and a message on Instagram.
When Magic received his HIV diagnosis, she was with him. Magic revealed at a news conference shortly after he and Cookie got married that he had tested positive for HIV. Cookie was expecting her first child at the time.
Magic subsequently said, “There was no greater pressure than getting home to tell him,” in a joint interview with Cookie with Gayle King of CBS Mornings in November 2021.
She then went ahead and got tested for HIV. Magic stated that he was “scared to death,” stating,
The turning point was when Cookie got tested, and the results came back that she and the baby were fine.
Cookie found Magic’s forecast terrifying. “That overwhelmed everything else, and it was, ‘You’re probably going to die,'” she recalled.
At that time, people were not educated, so they thought you couldn’t touch people, you couldn’t hug people and I didn’t want people to treat us like we were lepers, Cookie recalled. informed the king.
Cookie wore a symbolic white suit to the press appearance when she joined her husband.
During an interview with CBS Mornings, he stated, “I wore that white suit for a reason.” “I didn’t want to wear anything that represented darkness or black, as that’s what it means to me.
Additionally, the white outfit represents brightness to me—basically, positivity and the future.”
Together, Magic and Cookie dealt with the diagnosis, with Cookie acting as the former Lakers player’s support system.
Now an HIV activist and spokeswoman, Magic has received
recognition for her efforts to combat the stigma attached to the illness. When her son EJ came out as gay, she stood by him
Before going to Magic, EJ came out as gay to his mother when he was a youngster. following a year or so. In light of her Christian religion, Cookie admitted that embracing her son’s sexual
orientation “was a very difficult thing for [her],” as she told Oprah Winfrey in 2016.
He concluded after giving it some thought, “This youngster is innocent. It can’t be incorrect because this is how he was raised. It’s got to be correct.
“It was one of those times when I had to go straight to God, and I prayed… and the answer I got was love,” she said to Winfrey. You know, I adore you all, he said. Love is the greatest present I can give, and I give excellent gifts.
“And so, that’s when I knew I could love my son and support him for who he is, and I was okay with that,” she said.
When EJ came out in 2013, she talked candidly about her sexual orientation and gender identity.
His admiration for gender-fluid attire piqued interest in the prospect of transformation as he rose to prominence.
E! During an interview on K’s Just the Sip podcast, EJ expressed that he wasn’t sure what the future held for him.
“I feel really at ease with who I am. She remarked, “I like my body.
Since then, Gabrielle Union has praised Cookie for being a role model for helping her stepchild Jaya—the kid from a prior relationship of Dwyane Wade—come out as transgender.
As he put it, Magic and Cookie “were the first people we called” and they led the way.
“Magic and Cookie provided us with the blueprint,” Union remarked. “And literally, every step of the way, in my career, in his [Wade] career, they’ve been there.
She writes best-selling books.
The narrative of Magic’s HIV diagnosis was told from Cookie’s point of view in his best-selling memoir, Believing in Magic, published in 2016.
She talked about how he helped her after Voodoo’s diagnosis and how their marriage was impacted by her health struggle.
She is an entrepreneur and philanthropist.
Magic began working to increase public awareness of HIV/AIDS and to educate individuals about preventive and treatment options the same year he received his diagnosis.
The Lakers were led by competent players during the Showtime era, and these individuals were crucial to the team’s five championship victories in the 1980s.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson, the first overall selection in the 1979 NBA draft, was one of them.
Throughout NBA history, Magic was among the most dominant basketball players.
Before retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers in 1991 due to an HIV infection, he played for the team for 13 seasons.
Even at the height of his career, he was diagnosed with a potentially fatal illness, but he overcame it and succeeded as a businessman. People adore his spouse, Cookie.
For many years, people have respected Magic and Cookie Johnson as a marriage, and their narrative is one that can serve as inspiration.
The former NBA legend and his spouse are well-known due to the legacy of love, charity, financial success, and advocacy that they have left behind.
Who is Arletha “Cookie” Johnson, the spouse of Magic Johnson?
On January 20, 1959, Arletha ‘Cookie’ Johnson was born in Alabama. She writes and runs her own business.
She was born and raised in Huntsville, Alabama, then at the age of six, relocated to Detroit, Michigan.
After graduating from Michigan State University in 1981, he went to the Council Training School, an all-black school, where he eventually met Magic Johnson.
She worked as a fashion buyer at various department stores after graduating from college, and on September 14, 1991, she wed Magic.
She has since gained recognition for her charitable efforts in a number of organizations.
Cookie was named after a character from the television series 77 Sunset Strip by her mother. Cora is his mother’s name, while Earl is his father.
Harold Earl, her younger brother, and Pat, her elder sister, are her siblings.
Cookie Johnson’s height and age
The age of Cookie Johnson is 64. Her height is 5 feet 6 inches.
Entrepreneur Cookie Johnson also writes, philanthropizes, and designs clothes. Cookie Johnson’s estimated net worth is $50 million, based on Celebrity Net Worth.
Cookie Johnson’s occupation and philanthropic pursuits.
She has always been a generous and charitable woman. His background was the reason he became interested in assisting others.
Even though she was married to one of the greatest NBA players ever, Cookie Johnson went on to become a very successful author and entrepreneur.
Together with her spouse, she established The Magic Johnson Foundation (MJF), an organization dedicated to creating scholastic success initiatives and focused
HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns for urban adolescents nationwide. Encourage a healthy lifestyle in underprivileged areas.
She successfully introduced the CJ by Cookie Johnson denim line, catering to women who want stylish options that go beyond the size zero standards frequently found in mainstream brands.
By providing employment opportunities for these same demographics through domestic production facilities, she offers the potential for economic growth that audiences might have missed.
‘Believing in Magic’, a best-selling book that Cookie wrote about his and Magic Johnson’s lives, is also available.
enchantment and cookie wedding
Magic Johnson wed Arlitha “Cookie” Kelly at the First AME Church of Los Angeles on September 14, 1991.
Cookie played basketball for a college before going on to become a prosperous businesswoman. What is the length of Magic Johnson and Cookie Johnson’s marriage?
Although this remarkable pair has been married for nearly 31 years, their bond dates considerably earlier.
They became romantically involved within a few weeks after they first met in 1977. All that kept them from ending their relationship was a deep feeling of trust and dedication.
They tied the knot in a private ceremony in Lansing, Los Angeles, in September of 1991.
To what extent are Magic and Cookie parents?
Earvin III, or EJ, was born on June 4, 1992, and Alyssa was born on December 21, 1995. Magic and Cookie are parents to two wonderful children.
Over the years, EJ has gained a lot of popularity and has made appearances on a number of TV shows, including his own reality show,
“Rich Kids of Beverly Hills.” During his sophomore year at New York University in April 2013, he also made waves when he came out as gay.
Alyssa has led a contented life and has mostly avoided the public eye.
Andre, his oldest son, started out as an entrepreneur too. He started out with Magic Johnson Enterprises,
his father’s company, and eventually rose to the position of Vice President of Business Development at Mythical Games.
His other endeavors include joining a virtual reality startup as head of business development and co-founding Love + Light Ventures, LLC in April 2014.
A monument to love, perseverance, and a commitment to bettering oneself and one’s community is the tale of Magic and Cookie Johnson. Numerous individuals have been motivated by his
FAQs
What is the duration of Cookie and Magic’s relationship?
A little over 46 years old.
What was the year that Cookie and Magic tied the knot?
- That was in 1991. It took a long time to plan the wedding.
What is the title of the best-selling book written by Cookie Johnson?
- Having a magical belief.
What is the year of Cookie Johnson’s birth?
The 20th of January 1959 saw the birth of A. Earleatha Johnson.
What is Magic Johnson’s estimated net worth?
- It is estimated that Magic Johnson is worth $1.2 billion.
