‘Red Table Talk’: EJ Johnson and mother Cookie discuss his coming out to father Magic Johnson
On the latest episode of episode of Red Table Talk, EJ Johnson and his mother Cookie opened up about Magic Johnson's reaction when his son came out to him.
On the latest episode of Red Table Talk, EJ Johnson and his mother Cookie opened up about Magic Johnson‘s reaction when his son came out to the family.
During Monday’s installment, the 26-year-old reality star and his 59-year-old mother discussed gender fluidity and other topics with hosts Jada Pinkett Smith, her daughter Willow Smith and mother Adrienne Banfield Norris.
Cookie said that she knew her son was different at just three years old when he, “started wanting to put on the princess costumes at school.”
She also shared that as a young boy EJ used to put on her shoes, kept tabs on his grandmother’s clothes and picked flowers in the outfield when playing baseball. When he finally came out at age 15 it was a “big deal.”
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“We went to Hawaii once and I’m sitting behind him and his friend,” Cookie said during the show.
“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.”
During that talk she assured him that she would love and support him “no matter what.”
“But at that time, you can be happy in your room, but don’t let dad see you. So it was all of that,” she added.
Cookie said it was a little tougher of a discussion when EJ came out to his father, Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson.
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“My husband is the type of person, he reacts quickly, so everything that came to the top of his head, he just let it out,” Cookie explained.
“And I was like, it hurt my feelings and I know it probably hurt his feelings when he’d go, ‘It’s 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?'”
Cookie pulled her husband aside for being too harsh on EJ and the next day they had a conversation.
“He just was like, we’re gonna get through this, I just need time and we both just started crying a little bit,” EJ revealed.
“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,” he added.
On Sunday, Magic took to social media to share a Father’s Day photo of himself with his three children.
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Watch the entire Red Table Talk episode below:
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