Overview
- Johnson posted a message on X on Nov. 7, 2026 thanking God, family and fans and saying he is “still here and thriving.”
- He first went public on Nov. 7, 1991 when he announced an HIV-positive test, immediately retired from the Los Angeles Lakers, and said his wife and their unborn child tested negative.
- He founded the Magic Johnson Foundation in 1991 to fund testing, education and community programs and the foundation has provided tens of thousands of free HIV screenings and helped create clinics.
- Medical treatments changed in the mid-1990s when effective combination antiretroviral therapy became widely used, turning HIV from a likely fatal illness into a manageable chronic condition for many people.
- Johnson’s public disclosure helped challenge the early stigma that HIV only affected gay men and people who inject drugs and it led to greater public education, more testing and visible advocacy that changed how Americans talk about the disease.