Jimmy Kimmel and Magic Johnson Clear the Air Over Vacation Invite
Photo: ABC
Why in the world did Jimmy Kimmel decline his long-sought invitation to go on a wonderful yacht trip with Earvin “Magic” Johnson…?
That was the opening subject when the NBA icon paid his newest go to to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday evening.
The dream of vacationing with Johnson has been a lengthy-running bit for Kimmel, who has gone as far as to repeatedly Photoshop himself into the sun-dappled photos Johnson shares each summer season on social media.
Kimmel pleaded directly to Johnson for an invitation when the hoops legend dropped by J.Okay.L. in June 2024, unveiling matching “Vacation 2024” shirts that includes the duo Photoshopped collectively on a jet ski.
Kimmel’s efforts lastly paid off in September 2024, when Johnson surprised Kimmel with an actual invite for him and spouse Molly McNearneyfor summer season 2025. (The two {couples} can be joined, Johnson stated, by Samuel L. Jackson and his spouse LaTanya Richardson Jackson.) “I’m almost near tears,” a shocked Kimmel responded.
Come November 2025, although, viewers realized that Kimmel wound up a no-show. “We couldn’t come on the trip at that time,” he informed J.Okay.L. visitor and would-be trip companion Samuel L. Jackson. (Kimmel steered that Magic relayed the particulars at the final minute, to which Jackson stated that if the late evening host was actually obsessive about all of it, he’d know the journey at all times started in early July!)
Flash-forward to this Monday evening, the place Johnson remarked as he sat down reverse Kimmel, “You’ve been in the news a lot. I didn’t know if I was going to see you again.”
“Is that your way of telling me when the show is over, so is our relationship?” requested Kimmel.
“No, we’re going to still be friends,” Magic insisted. After all, “I invited you on the yacht!”
“I know you did…,” Kimmel agreed, sheepishly. “That was the smartest thing that ever occurred, and not having the ability to go was the worst factor.
“And I blame my children, really, for it,” he quipped (?).
Whatever the case, Magic stated Kimmel has an “open invitation” to come back alongside at a future date. “Samuel L. Jackson said, ‘Make sure you invite him and [his] wife back.’”
To grateful Kimmel responded, “That’s great news. Thank you for that.”
Watch the individuals’s sit-down-opening change under.
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 3, 2026
