Magic Johnson Refutes Rumors on Recently Donating Blood: ‘I Have Never Donated Blood’
NBA Hall of Famer Magic Johnson is embroiled in a controversy that he had nothing to do with and has made a statement clarifying the rumored incident.
According to The Associated Press, a photograph of the Los Angeles Lakers legend, who was diagnosed with HIV in 1991, seemingly appears to show him donating blood. The photo has been circulating through social media as people got wind of the image that was captioned: “Earlier today, NBA legend Magic Johnson donated some of his blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities help fight COVID-19.”
The post was from a satire site but that didn’t stop people from reposting it throughout social media. While some people knew it was a joke, many believed it to be a true story. . A photo shows former NBA star Earvin “Magic” Johnson, who has HIV, donating blood in August 2022 to help COVID-19 patients.
The successful entrepreneur, who is also the owner of Major League Baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks took to his Twitter account to dispel the rumors being spread through social media.
“I’m aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood.”
I’m aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood.
— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) August 23, 2022
The fact-checking team at The Associated Press determined that the image that has been shared on social media is “miscaptioned.” They have stated that the photograph is 10 years old as it was a still taken from a 2012 documentary. The picture shows Johnson having blood drawn while he was at a doctor’s appointment. As the Red Cross doesn’t draw blood from people who are infected with HIV, even if Johnson were to try to donate, the organization would not accept it.
The pic used for this post was for the 2012 documentary titled, Endgame: AIDS in Black America. When the photo was taken, Johnson was seen having his blood drawn at the office of his doctor, Dr. David Ho.
