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]
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]
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]
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 120mg 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 $25million 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]
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
