Nationwide — During a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey on her Super Soul Sunday series, Cookie Johnson, the wife of NBA Legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson revealed her inner struggle after their son EJ revealed to others that he was gay. EJ publicly came out in 2013 when photos surfaced of him holding hands with his then boyfriend. He is now the star of his own reality show called EJNYC on the E! cable and satellite channel.During the interview, which aired on OWN on September 25, Cookie said, “This was one of those moments where I had to go directly to God and I prayed… and the answer I got back was love.”
Oprah asked her, “You’re Christian, you believe in the word, you live by the word. How did you reconcile what Christianity says about being gay with your loving of your son… and still remaining Christian?”
Cookie replied, “That was a very hard thing for me. That was a very, very hard thing for me. I tried everything, but finally I just said to myself, ‘This child is innocent. He was like this when he was a baby, it can’t be wrong. It can’t be wrong.'”
She added, “And [God] said, you know, ‘I give you all great gifts and the greatest of that gift is love,’ and so, that’s when I knew I could love my son and support him on who he was and I was okay with it.”
Oprah also spoke with Cookie about her spiritual journey after her husband announced he was HIV-positive.
The Super Soul Sunday series airs on OWN every Sunday at 11a/10c & 7/6c. The award-winning series features all-new conversations between Oprah Winfrey and top thinkers, authors, visionaries and spiritual leaders exploring themes and issues including happiness, personal fulfillment, spirituality, conscious living and what it means to be alive in today’s world.
Watch the full interview below: