Why in the world did Jimmy Kimmel decline his long-sought invitation to go on a fabulous yacht vacation with Earvin “Magic” Johnson…?
That was the opening topic when the NBA icon paid his latest visit to ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Monday night.
The dream of vacationing with Johnson has been a long-running bit for Kimmel, who has gone so far as to repeatedly Photoshop himself into the sun-dappled photos Johnson shares every summer on social media.
Kimmel pleaded directly to Johnson for an invite when the hoops legend dropped by JKL in June 2024, unveiling matching “Vacation 2024” shirts featuring the duor Photoshopped together on a jet ski.
Kimmel’s efforts finally paid off in September 2024, when Johnson surprised Kimmel with an actual invite for him and wife Molly McNearney, for summer 2025. (The two couples would be joined, Johnson said, by Samuel L. Jackson and his wife LaTanya Richardson Jackson.) “I’m almost near tears,” a stunned Kimmel responded.
Come November 2025, though, viewers learned that Kimmel wound up a no-show. “We couldn’t come on the trip at that time,” he told JKL guest and would-be vacation companion Samuel L. Jackson. (Kimmel suggested that Magic relayed the details at the last minute, to which Jackson said that if the late night host was truly obsessed with it all, he’d know the trip always began in early July!)
Flash-forward to this Monday night, where Johnson remarked as he sat down opposite 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?” asked Kimmel.
“No, we’re going to still be friends,” Magic insisted. After all, “I invited you on the yacht!”
“I know you did…,” Kimmel nodded, sheepishly. “That was the best thing that ever happened, and not being able to go was the worst thing.
“And I blame my children, really, for it,” he quipped (?).
Whatever the case, Magic said Kimmel has an “open invitation” to come along at a future date. “Samuel L. Jackson said, ‘Make sure you invite him and [his] wife back.’”
A grateful Kimmel responded, “That’s great news. Thank you for that.”
Watch the gents’ sit-down-opening exchange below.
— LateNighter (@latenightercom) March 3, 2026