Did former NBA star Earvin "Magic" Johnson donate some of his blood in August 2022 to the Red Cross to help underprivileged communities fight COVID-19? No, that's not true: The image of a doctor taking blood from Johnson's arm is from the 2012 PBS Frontline documentary "Endgame: AIDS in Black America." Johnson first learned of his HIV diagnosis after a routine physical ahead of the 1991-92 NBA season. He announced the development during a November 7, 1991, news conference.
The claim appeared in an Instagram post published by Best Celebrations on August 20, 2022, under the title "HE DONATED WHAT?!?" It opened:
Earlier today, NBA legend Magic Johnson donated some of his blood to the Red Cross to help underprivileged community to help fight COVID-19. 🐐 🙌
This is what the post looked like on Instagram at the time of writing:
(Source: Instagram screenshot taken on Mon Aug 22 15:26:59 2022 UTC)
The image of a physician, Dr. David Ho, an HIV/AIDS specialist, drawing blood from Johnson's arm can be found about 67 minutes into the documentary and also around the 1:30 mark in a trailer for the documentary posted to YouTube on June 29, 2012:
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Mon Aug 22 16:19:01 2022 UTC
The Instagram post by Best Celebrations is a copy of a copy of a post that originated on the Cock Sources Instagram page, which bills itself as a place for "up-to-date ... reliable sports coverage," as well as a satire site, "Spreading false narratives with misinformation":
(Source: YouTube screenshot taken on Mon Aug 22 16:19:01 2022 UTC
