EJ Johnson Voices Support for Zaya Wade’s Happiness
EJ Johnson, the child of NBA legend Magic Johnson and a longtime presence on reality TV and in Black queer culture, publicly voiced support for Dwyane Wade’s daughter, Zaya Wade, praising the teen’s happiness and highlighting a few unexpected similarities between them.
In a conversation with Carlos King on “Reality with the King,” Johnson noted a small, but meaningful connection with Wade. “She went to my high school as well, so we have some similarities,” he said, before adding plainly, “I’m happy that she’s happy.”
Johnson shared that they’ve met Zaya twice and they have encouraged the teenager to reach out if she needed guidance. Johnson came out publicly years ago, and their family has been praised as an example of acceptance and supporting LGBTQ+ children in Black households. Magic has previously said his family’s example helped Dwyane and Gabrielle Union when Zaya came out, a moment that EJ’s own public life helped normalize for other parents and kids.
Johnson said, “It's one of those things where it's like, there's nothing really I can say or do, because that's your journey. And they also said some horrible and stupid things about her, and the same thing they [said] were the horrible stupid things they were saying about me. So it's like, here we are again.”
Johnson also referenced the online scrutiny both young people face and the ways families try to protect them. Their comments are a reminder that visibility (especially for Black LGBTQ+ youth) often brings both support and intense public attention.
“I'm not going up against anything that I actually really need to be concerned about, because these are all everybody else's fears and everybody else's concerns and everybody else's viewpoints of the world that are being challenged by somebody living their truth or living their life the way they want to live it,” they said. “It's just absurd.”
Dwyane launched Translatable in 2024 to deter homophobic and queerphobic remarks. Translatable is an LGBTQIA+ friendly platform that keeps queer, non-binary, and trans youth safe online.
