Friday star A. J. Johnson may be gone, but his legacy will continue to live on if his wife has anything to do with it. Lexis Jones Mason, his partner of over 28 years, has shared her plans to start a foundation after the cause of death was revealed to the public.
A. J. Johnson – best known for his role as “Ezal” in the Ice Cube and Chris Tucker-led movie Friday, was found lifeless in a Los Angeles store on September 6, 2021. Shortly after being found, Johnson was transported to a Los Angeles County hospital, where he was pronounced dead. He was reported to be around 55-years-old. Outside of his work on Friday, the comedian appeared in many other works such as The Players Club, B*A*P*S, How To Be A Player, I Got The Hook-Up and its sequel.
At the time of Johnson’s unfortunate passing, his family was left to struggle with funeral costs. As a result, a GoFundMe was set up in order to offset the high cost of burying the comedian. “Please help us by donating for his homegoing service and ongoing support for his children and grandchildren,” the page read.
However, the campaign initially was slow to reach its goal of $20,000. His widow, Lexis Jones Mason, then called out fans and supporters for showing “fake love” and stated that she was “tired” of it. “Y’all say y’all love him. Where’s the love,” she questioned, as per TMZ. “Y’all not helping.” Mason revealed that she would have to pay the funeral costs “out of pocket” if no help was received and that they had no insurance policy in place. “Please stop the fake love,” she begged. “Please stop the fake calls. Please stop the fake texts. Please!”
Since then, $55,889 has been raised on the GoFundMe page, exceeding the expectations and the original amount. However, TMZ reports that Mason received over $70,000 in donations, including $5k from Migos rapper Offset, $4k from comedian Lil Rel, and $10k from comedian Michael Blackson. Mason took to Instagram to express gratitude on behalf of their family. Also, she announced a comedy tribute show on September 28, 2021, in Inglewood, CA.
Five months after his passing, the Los Angeles County Medical-Coroner’s office announced that his cause of passing was from “chronic ethanol use”. AJ’s widow, Lexis Jones Mason reportedly wanted the news to be known in order to help others who may be suffering from the same thing. According to TMZ, Mason plans to create a foundation to continue his legacy and “teach youth about the dangers of alcohol.” Overall, Lexis wants AJ’s legacy to inspire people to put the bottle down.
Recently, Mason posted a tribute to her late husband on Instagram, showing that she visited his grave site stating, “I celebrate your life & I Thank God for loaning me you.” In addition, Lexis Mason Jones announced a birthday show that was held at Roscoes Chicken N’ Waffles on February 1 in Long Beach to celebrate the late comedian.
