After Dwyane Wade and Gabrielle Union’s daughter Zaya Wade came out as transgender, Earvin “Magic” Johnson and his son EJ Johnson lent a helpful hand to the couple.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight ahead of the release of his new Apple TV+ docuseries They Call Me Magic, the 62-year-old former Lakers star revealed that EJ, who came out publicly as gay in 2013, inspired Wade, 40, and Union, 49, who publicly revealed Zaya’s gender identity more than two years ago.
It was only natural for Magic to stand by his pals. He continued, “We’ve always been folks that tried to do the right thing and do what we were meant to do.” “We had no intention of abandoning our son. We couldn’t adore him; as we always tell him, be who you want to be, and we’ll love and support you whatever.”
He went on to say, “And as a result, Dwyane and Gabs exclaimed, ‘Oh man, look at that.’ We’re looking at our own part, doing our own thing with our own son, so if we can help anyone just by being ourselves and doing the right thing, that’s a good and powerful thing.”
In 2019, Dwyane disclosed that his daughter Zaya, whom he shares with his ex-wife Siohvaughn Funches, is transgender. Union told PEOPLE in a joint interview with her husband in April 2021 that the family “didn’t have many resources” at first.
Union said, “So I basically reached out to everyone I knew from social media.” “Love, resources, and information poured in from everyone.”
Union told ET at the premiere of They Call Me Magic that Magic and his wife Cookie Johnson were beneficial to her family after Zaya came out.
“It’s all about perseverance and putting your family first and loving each family member equally and out loud. And they showed us the way,” the star of Cheaper by the Dozen said at the time, mentioning Magic and Cookie as “the first individuals we called.””
She went on to say, “They handed us the template.” “They’ve basically been there every step of my career, in his career.”
ET spoke with Dwyane Wade, who expressed similar concerns. “That’s what Magic and Cookie have meant to us as grownups,” he explained. “And it was incredible to witness EJ do the same thing to Zaya.
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Finally, Johnson expressed gratitude for the “impact” he and his son have had on and off the field. “If we’ve done that, we’ve been a blessing,” he told ET.
