Over the last couple of weeks, a fake news story has been circulating around social media that says that Magic Johnson, despite having HIV, donated blood. The story came about after a picture of Johnson getting his blood drawn went viral.
The tweet in question has a picture of the NBA legend giving blood with the caption saying that he is donating blood for underprivileged communities to fight COVID-`19. Despite the tweet coming from a satire page, people chose not to investigate the source, and instead made the tweet go viral.
Nonetheless, it didn’t stop Magic from responding to the tweet and people who believed that he actually donated his blood. Johnson shared message on his Twitter earlier today, August 23, saying that he’s aware of the fake story and that he’s never donated blood before.
“I’m aware of the false story circling the internet, and to be clear, I have never donated blood,” Magic tweeted.
The Associated Press even revealed that the picture used in the Tweet came from a 2012 NPR documentary “Endgame: AIDS in Black America.” The scene in the documentary shows Magic get his blood drawn from his doctor Dr. David Ho.
Johnson had announced his HIV diagnosis in 1991 and then announced his retirement from basketball. Johnson has since become a spokesperson and advocate for HIV awareness.
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