Beverly Johnson closes a diverse Bibhu Mohapatra runway show at NYFW
Beverly Johnson reflects on changes and diversity in the fashion industry: “I didn’t have this coming up in the 70s, 80s and 90s. There wasn’t this.” (Feb. 15)
AP
Beverly Johnson received a surprise birthday gift this fall: a wedding.
The groundbreaking supermodel and actor, 71, secretly tied the knot with longtime love Brian Maillian in an October ceremony in Las Vegas, she announced in a radio interview this week with Sirius XM’s “Sway in the Morning.”
After co-host Tracy G mentioned the actress called Maillian her husband, Johnson explained how the couple got hitched. Johnson said her-now husband asked what she wanted as a birthday present, so she sat up in bed with a surprising answer.
“I said, ‘I know what I want for my birthday.’ He said, what?’ I said, I want to get married. He went, ‘OK.’ And I went, ‘did he say OK?’” Johnson recalled before dropping an expletive on-air.
Two days later, the pair wed in Sin City. Maillian, who is a financier, wanted to get married in front of 1,500 guests but Johnson preferred a more intimate setting, she said.
Beverly Johnson was proposed to on her OWN series, ‘Beverly’s Full House’
Johnson, who’s been married twice prior, said Maillian proposed years ago on the set of her 2012 Oprah Winfrey Network series, “Beverly’s Full House,” which followed generations of her family living together in Palm Springs.
“I had just met him, and it was like some kind of setup. I was like, ‘Oh, you ain’t going to trick me into that,'” Johnson said of the original proposal.
Johnson told the “Sway in the Morning” hosts that she preferred a piece of property over an engagement ring because she has “a lot of rings.”
Johnson’s self-written play “Beverly Johnson: In Vogue” premieres off-Broadway on Sunday with shows through Feb. 4 at the 59E59 Theaters in New York City.
Johnson rose to fame as the first Black woman to grace the cover of Vogue Magazine in 1974. This week, Johnson is celebrating 50 years since she made history on the cover.
She’s appeared on more than 500 magazine covers and found a career in acting on television and in theater. “In Vogue” details Johnson’s journey to her role in the #MeToo Movement, her rise as one of the world’s most notable supermodels and her personal relationships.
50 years of history: Beverly Johnson opens up about being first Black model on Vogue cover
