ABSTRACT
In November 1991, Earvin “Magic” Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team held a press conference to announce that he had contracted HIV and was retiring from professional basketball. The news of his infection spread quickly, and instantly the world had a well-liked, high-profile celebrity who demonstrated that heterosexuals were at risk for AIDS. This appeared to be a potentially critical event in people’s perception of the disease. The press quickly predicted that Magic would be immensely effective in conveying this risk to the public. They speculated that his charisma would personalize the concern to other heterosexualswho had otherwise rationalized that theAIDS riskwas limited togaymen.Magic’s immediate interviewswith thepress, public service announcements, and appointment to the President’s AIDSCouncil reinforced this hope (Anonymous, 1992; Baker, Lepley, Krishnan, & Victory, 1992; Fumento, 1992).
