Topic: Media Research Center
Media Research Center sports blogger Jay Maxson let his (or her) hate rage in a Nov. 8 post lashing out at basketball legend Magic Johnson. Maxson started out relatively nice at first:
Sunday was the 30th anniversary of Magic Johnson’s shocking announcement that he had HIV and was retiring from pro basketball. With NBA Commissioner David Stern and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar by his side, Johnson immediately volunteered to become a spokesperson and poster child for the virus.
Then and now, he was hailed as a sympathetic figure. In 1991, Sports Illustrated quoted him saying he had been merely “accommodating needy women”. Now SI praises him for “still doing lifesaving work.”
By the middle of the post, Maxson huffed that after Johnson's diagnosis, "the sex-addicted former athlete with HIV reaped adulation," going on to rage:
Johnson said Sunday that God has blessed him by keeping him alive. We will never know the fate of his many sex partners. Have any of them died of HIV? Did he ever apologize or tell any of them of his disease? Ethics and morality are seriously lacking from this ongoing story.
The fawning media and medical fanboys and girls ignore how Johnson got to this place. There is no talk of the married man’s faithlessness and his lack of discipline and restraint. Most importantly, there is absolutely NO consideration for the multitudes of women he may have infected with HIV. In comparison, another former athlete who took the high road sexually, Tim Tebow, is mocked and scorned.
In 1991, The Sporting News reported that Johnson’s closest friends said he frequently disclosed details about the “freaks” he had sex with across the nation.
Maxson concluded by suggesting that he (or she) fervently wished that Johnson had been fully punished for his behavior by dying of AIDS: "In a bygone era, Lou Gehrig contracted a fatal disease through no fault of his own. Magic Johnson lived the life of a stray dog and reaped what he sowed. Unfortunately, the media has a blind spot with Johnson and refuses to tell the full story."
By contrast, Maxson was totally cool with Aaron Rodgers lying about his COVID vaccination status and engangering the health of his teammates.
