Magic Says That No Disrespect Was Intended
Magic Johnson, backing off previous statements for the second time in three weeks, said he was only joking when he told Sports Illustrated that he tried to “accommodate as many women” as he could and added, “I respect women to the utmost.”
Johnson wrote a Sports Illustrated article with Roy Johnson in which he said that he contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, through heterosexual, unprotected sex.
For the record:
12:00 a.m. Dec. 13, 1991 For the Record
Los Angeles Times Friday December 13, 1991 Home Edition Sports Part C Page 15 Column 5 Sports Desk 2 inches; 63 words Type of Material: Correction
Magic Johnson--A story in Wednesday’s editions on Connie Chung’s television interview with Magic Johnson reported that Johnson had said he was only joking when he told Sports Illustrated that he had tried “to accommodate as many women” as he could. That was written before final editing of the show and when the program was shown publicly Wednesday night, there was no mention by Johnson of his having been joking, that reference having been edited out.
In an interview with Connie Chung that will air tonight on CBS, he said: “I used a bad choice of words” with regard to his promiscuity.
Two weeks ago, Johnson changed his message from “safe sex is the best sex” to “the best sex is no sex” after being criticized for his first proclamation.
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