Liver King

Last updated

Liver King
Born
Brian Michael Johnson

(1978-03-02) March 2, 1978 (age 47) [1]
Occupation(s)Social media personality, businessman
Years active2020–present
Known forPromoting an "ancestral lifestyle" and consuming large amounts of raw, unprocessed organ meats, particularly liver
TikTok information
Followers6.1 million
Likes113.2 million

Last updated: June 29, 2025
YouTube information
Subscribers1.21 million
Views80.9 million

Last updated: June 29, 2025
Website liverking.com

Brian Michael Johnson (born March 2, 1978), [1] known by his online alias Liver King, is an American health and fitness social media influencer and businessman. [2] [3] Johnson is known for promoting what he calls an "ancestral lifestyle", which includes shunning modern conveniences, performing incredibly taxing physical exercise routines and, most famously, eating large amounts of raw unprocessed organs and meat (focusing on a daily intake of liver). [4] His dietary advice has been criticized by nutritionists for promoting potentially dangerous misinformation. [2] [5] [4]

Contents

Johnson's lifestyle is based around nine "ancestral tenets". [6] He had denied having used steroids to achieve his physique until 2022, after which a leak of private e-mails revealed that he had spent over $11,000 a month on anabolic steroids and other performance enhancing drugs. He then apologized for his conduct in a YouTube video. [7] [8]

Early life

The Johnson family were originally from Oklahoma, but Brian was born in Ceiba, Puerto Rico due to his father's job in the US Air Force, and soon after relocated to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. When Brian's father, Philip D. Johnson, died suddenly while Brian was still an infant, he and his brother stayed in San Antonio due to a military-assisted living situation and were raised by their mother. [9] [ unreliable source? ]

Johnson claims that he was active in sports growing up, particularly BMX, but was undersized for his age, and had a bad speech impediment that required extensive speech therapy. He stated that he was bullied frequently, and claims that he was knocked unconscious after a bully punched him in the back of the head on the first day of middle school. [9]

He attended Texas Tech University, where he majored in biochemistry. [10]

Career

Following his degree, he relocated to Houston to pursue a job as a pharmaceutical rep. [11] Prior to becoming an influencer, Johnson worked supporting his wife's dental practice. [12]

Johnson co-owns the supplement company Heart & Soil with animal-based diet proponent and MD Paul Saladino. [13]

Controversies

Dietary advice

Johnson's dietary recommendation of eating raw meat has been criticized as dangerous, due to the associated risk of bacterial infection from its consumption. [2] The meat-rich diet Johnson recommends is high in saturated fat, which is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and high cholesterol levels, and may also result in digestive issues. [2] [5]

Steroid use

Despite repeatedly denying having ever used anabolic steroids to attain his physique, it was revealed in late 2022 that Johnson regularly used multiple steroids, including synthetic IGF1 and testosterone, and spent $11,000 on pharmaceuticals a month. [14] After emails showing his use of steroids and hormones came to light, Johnson made a video in which he admitted to taking around 120 mg of testosterone per week and apologized for misleading his viewers about his "pharmacological intervention", while also adding that there is "a time and place" for such interventions to be made. [15]

In the aftermath of the revelations, some of Johnson's followers filed a lawsuit, accusing Johnson of deception and demanding $25 million in compensation. [16] The lawsuit was later discontinued. [17]

June 2025 arrest

On June 24, 2025, the Austin Police Department arrested Johnson on a charge of terroristic threat, a Class B Misdemeanor. The police department confirmed it was due to Johnson threatening physical harm against Joe Rogan on his Instagram profile and traveling to Austin, Texas (where Rogan and his family live), while continuing to make such statements. [18] [19]

In the media

Johnson is the subject of the 2025 Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King. [20]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Johnson, Brian. "Liver King's Bio and Stats". www.liverking.com. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Cao, Steffi (March 2, 2022). "Liver King Might Be The Biggest Bro Influencer We Have Ever Seen". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  3. Aggeler, Madeleine (May 5, 2022). "How the Liver King Built an Empire by Eating Raw Organ Meat". GQ. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Jarry, Jonathan (January 28, 2022). "The Liver King Wants You to Dominate Your Health Like a Caveman". Office for Science and Society. McGill University. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  5. 1 2 Taylor, Anne (August 29, 2022). "What A Nutritionist Really Thinks About The Liver King Diet – Exclusive". Health Digest. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  6. Weiss, Geoff (December 30, 2022). "Raw-meat influencer The Liver King is facing a $25 million class-action lawsuit after admitting he secretly used steroids". Business Insider. Retrieved March 26, 2024.
  7. Amenabar, Teddy; O'Connor, Anahad (December 10, 2022). "TikTok 'Liver King' touted raw organ meat diet. He also took steroids". Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286 . Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  8. Landsverk, Gabby. "The Liver King claimed he got ripped by eating raw organs when he was really taking $11,000 worth of steroids a month. Now he says he regrets lying to his followers". Insider. Retrieved June 7, 2023.
  9. 1 2 "LIVER KING STATS: HEIGHT, WEIGHT, AGE, DIET AND MOOOOAR!". Liverking.com. Archived from the original on October 7, 2023. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  10. "TT alumn embroiled in STRONG controversy". KKAM.com. December 5, 2022.
  11. "NEVER APOLOGIZE… "NOPE, NOT SORRY AFTERALL" – LK 2.0". Liverking.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  12. Gutman, Matt; Rivera, Gabriel; Muldofsky, Mack; Wenzlaff, Rachel; Kapetaneas, John; Pereira, Ivan (May 13, 2013). "From the Liver King's mouth to your plate: Inside the controversial influencer's world". ABC News. Retrieved May 28, 2023.
  13. Singh, Manvir (September 25, 2023). "Is an All-Meat Diet What Nature Intended?". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  14. Cao, Steffi (December 2, 2022). "Liver King, The TikTok Creator Who Eats Raw Bull Testicles For Dinner, Is On Steroids". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  15. Weiss, Geoff (December 2, 2022). "The Liver King, an influencer who eats raw meat and preaches a primal lifestyle, admits to lying about steroid use". Insider. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  16. Catalina, Goanta. "The rise and fall of the Liver King—a social media sensation who is now being sued by his followers for $25 million".
  17. Xie, Teresa (September 22, 2023). "Raw Meat-Eating Liver King And Other Health Influencers Face Mounting Lawsuits". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  18. Hollis, Brianna (June 24, 2025). "Social media influencer 'Liver King' arrested in Austin". KXAN Austin. Retrieved June 24, 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  19. Spangler, Todd (June 25, 2025). "Social Media Influencer 'Liver King' Arrested After Making 'Terroristic' Threats to Joe Rogan, Police Say". Variety. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  20. Samadder, Rhik (May 10, 2025). "The Liver King – this hilarious exposé is like Tiger King … but with way more genital eating". The Guardian . Retrieved May 15, 2025.