Magic Johnson Hoax Tweet Says Athlete Who Has HIV Donated Blood For Charity

Note: If you see a picture of Magic Johnson getting an injection, it’s probably not because the star, who has HIV, is donating blood.

Twitter was sent into a tizzy on Saturday when a photo of Johnson getting stuck with a needle was posted with a fake retweet stating that he was giving blood for charity.

While the picture maaaybe could have passed for a shot of the former Lakers player giving blood, it was really nothing of the sort. Thanks to BuzzFeed’s sleuthing, we found out that the origin of the pic was traced back to PBS’s 2012 documentary Endgame: AIDS In Black America. In that scene, he was just getting a treatment and his doctor was just marveling at the size of the guy’s veins.

The original twitpic has been taken down, but it’s continuing to circulate with naysayers calling out the athlete for jeopardizing people’s health.

Pure Homicide. RT @magicjohnson: Just got done donating blood for charity twitter.com/KaimellBeMacki…

— Tre Hood Himself (@ItsHoodTV) March 23, 2013

But seriously, Twitter, the photo may seem suspicious, but let’s give this vocal HIV/AIDS advocate a bit more credit. OK?

Hat tip: BuzzFeed