“You think Magic faked AIDS for sympathy?” Chris Baker asked co-host Langdon Perry on their conservative radio talk show that airs from Twin Cities, Minnesota’s KTLK 100.3 FM. Perry answered, “I’m convinced that Magic faked AIDS;” and he later referred to basketball giant, Magic Johnson as “the only cured AIDS guy ever.”

According to the Star Tribune the conversation received extensive exposure after being posted by Media Matters for America, but this did not faze the duo who dismissed the controversy around their remarks, refusing to comment and saying only that the whole thing was, “not news...but simply a three second comment from a four hour show.”

Magic Johnson released a statement in which he expressed his displeasure at the way his HIV status and the epidemic in general was being trivialized.

He told the Star Tribune, “Millions are dying from HIV/AIDS, and the fact that they would make jokes about my status is unbelievable,” said Johnson, 49, who came out as HIV positive in 1991. “Chris, Langdon and KTLK should use their power in a more positive light by encouraging people to get tested for this disease instead of making up such ridiculous lies.”