Liver King

Last updated

Liver King
Born
Brian Michael Johnson

(1978-03-02) March 2, 1978 (age 47) [1]
Roosevelt Roads Naval Station, Ceiba, Puerto Rico
Occupations
  • 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
Likes113.4 million

Last updated: August 19, 2025
YouTube information
Subscribers1.21 million
Views84.5 million

Last updated: August 19, 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. He is known for promoting what he calls an "ancestral lifestyle", which includes the consumption of raw organ meats, a practice for which Johnson has received criticism from medical professionals. Though he claimed to not rely on anabolic steroids or other supplements, it was revealed in 2022 that Johnson had been spending more than $11,000 a month on steroids. In the 2025 Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King, Johnson denounced the carnivore diet and his promotion of it. [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

According to Johnson's website, 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. [4]

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. [4]

He attended Texas Tech University and received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry. [5]

Career

Following his degree, Johnson moved to Houston to pursue a job as a pharmaceutical sales representative. [6] and later was a stakeholder in his wife's dental practice. [7] In 2021, he went viral on social media for promoting what he refers to as an "ancestral lifestyle", [8] which is based around nine "ancestral tenets". [9] This includes the shunning of modern conveniences, performing taxing physical exercise routines and consuming large amounts of raw unprocessed organs and meat, especially liver. [10] His moniker "Liver King" is derived from this practice. [11] Since 2015, Johnson and his wife Barbara have been selling fitness supplements online, [11] with the Liver King persona promoting the business. [12]

Medical professionals have criticized Johnson for promoting potentially dangerous misinformation, [13] [14] [10] [15] and giving his followers the impression that they can also achieve an ideal body with supposedly natural methods. [16] [17] 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. [13] [14]

Despite repeatedly denying having ever used anabolic steroids to attain his physique, a leak of private e-mails in late 2022 revealed that he had spent over $11,000 a month on steroids, and was taking 16 vials of performance-enhancing drugs each month, including five steroids and one synthetic protein hormone. [18] He then apologized for misleading his viewers about his "pharmacological intervention" in a YouTube video. In the video, in which Johnson admitted to taking around 120 mg of testosterone per week, he added that there is "a time and place" for such interventions to be made. [19]

Johnson co-owns the supplement company Heart & Soil with animal-based diet proponent and MD Paul Saladino. [20]

Following the revelation that Johnson had taken steroids and other substances for years, some of his followers filed a lawsuit, accusing Johnson of deception and demanding $25 million in compensation. [21] The lawsuit was later discontinued. [22] [23] [24]

On June 24, 2025, the Austin Police Department arrested Johnson on a charge of terroristic threat, a Class B misdemeanor. The police department confirmed Johnson was arrested for repeatedly threatening physical harm against Joe Rogan on his Instagram profile and traveling to Austin, Texas, where Rogan lives, while continuing to make such statements. [25] [26] Johnson's use of steroids had previously been the subject of one of Rogan's podcast episodes. [27] He was released on $20,000 bail later that same evening and was ordered to neither contact nor physically approach Rogan or his family, [28] and also undergo a mental health evaluation. [29]

In the media

Johnson is the subject of the 2025 Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King. [30] Director Joe Perlman stated that he had taken a personal interest in Johnson’s story and what the influencer was willing to do to keep and expand his social media following. [31] Writing for Time , Charlotte Lytton stated that the documentary was not particularly critical of Johnson, and doubted the sincerity of the fitness influencer. [32] Rhik Samadder of The Guardian wrote that Untold was witty and "frequently hilarious" at the cost of Johnson, and wished that the documentary had a longer running time. [33] In the Netflix documentary, Johnson denounced the carnivore diet and his promotion of it. [2] [3]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Johnson, Brian. "Liver King's Bio and Stats". Liverking.com. Retrieved June 28, 2025.
  2. 1 2 Colburn, Randall. (May 14, 2025). "Where is the Liver King now? Here's what happened after the organ-eating influencer's steroid scandal". Entertainment Weekly. People Inc. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
  3. 1 2 Bridge, Liv (May 13, 2025). "'Liver King' who eats testicles reveals he was 'wrong' about intense carnivore diet". Unilad. Retrieved August 28, 2025. He explained: "I was so convinced all the carnivore stuff, that's what you need to really kick ass in life. I'm convinced now that I was starving myself. "I guess I want the world to know I was wrong. I got it wrong. I got all of it wrong. I think as each passing day goes by, I realize I don't know s***. There's a lot more that I don't know than I do know. Like an extreme approach to anything probably ain't f***ing working out."
  4. 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.
  5. "TT alumn embroiled in STRONG controversy". KKAM.com. December 5, 2022.
  6. "NEVER APOLOGIZE… "NOPE, NOT SORRY AFTERALL" – LK 2.0". Liverking.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2024. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
  7. 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.
  8. Sarabi, Maria (May 15, 2025). "The Liver King's wild transformation from high school to now". Hello!. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  9. 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.
  10. 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.
  11. 1 2 Rosenblatt, Kalhan (June 28, 2025). "Who is the 'Liver King'?". NBC News. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  12. Gutman, Matt; Rivera, Gabriel; Muldofsky, Mack; Wenzlaff, Rachel; Kapetaneas, John; Pereira, Ivan (May 13, 2023). "From the Liver King's mouth to your plate: Inside the controversial influencer's world". ABC News. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  13. 1 2 Cao, Steffi (March 2, 2022). "Liver King Might Be The Biggest Bro Influencer We Have Ever Seen". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  14. 1 2 Taylor, Anne (August 29, 2022). "What A Nutritionist Really Thinks About The Liver King Diet – Exclusive". Health Digest. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  15. Louallen, Doc; Barr, Luke (June 25, 2025). "Liver King arrested in Austin after threatening Joe Rogan on Instagram". ABC News. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  16. Gibbs, Nicholas; Piatkowski, Timothy (2023). "The Liver King Lie: Misrepresentation, justification, and public health implications". International Journal of Drug Policy. 114 103979. Elsevier BV. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2023.103979 . hdl: 10072/421892 . ISSN   0955-3959. PMID   36841216.
  17. Gutman, Matt; Rivera, Gabriel; Muldofsky, Mack; Wenzlaff, Rachel; Kapetaneas, John; Pereira, Ivan (May 13, 2023). "From the Liver King's mouth to your plate: Inside the controversial influencer's world". ABC News. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  18. 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.
  19. 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.
  20. Singh, Manvir (September 25, 2023). "Is an All-Meat Diet What Nature Intended?". The New Yorker. Retrieved June 25, 2025.
  21. 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".
  22. Xie, Teresa (September 22, 2023). "Raw Meat-Eating Liver King And Other Health Influencers Face Mounting Lawsuits". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  23. Keane, Isabel (June 25, 2025). "Netflix star Liver King Brian Johnson is arrested for making 'terroristic threats' against Joe Rogan and traveling to his hometown to confront him". The Independent. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  24. 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.
  25. Hollis, Brianna (June 24, 2025). "Social media influencer 'Liver King' arrested in Austin". KXAN Austin. Retrieved June 24, 2025.
  26. 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.
  27. "'Liver King' influencer arrested in Texas after threatening Joe Rogan". NBC News. June 25, 2025. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  28. Rosario, Alexandra Del (June 25, 2025). "Liver King must stay away from Joe Rogan, court orders. He's still 'picking a fight'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  29. Spangler, Todd (June 26, 2025). "'Liver King' Ordered to Undergo Mental Health Evaluation, Is Subject to Restraining Order After Arrest for Joe Rogan Threats". Variety. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  30. 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.
  31. Blistein, Jon (April 22, 2025). "Raw Meat and 'Roids: Liver King Talks Online Notoriety in New Doc Trailer". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  32. Lytton, Charlotte (May 13, 2025). "'Untold: The Liver King' Lets the Disgraced Health Influencer Off Easy". Time. Retrieved July 4, 2025.
  33. Samadder, Rhik (May 10, 2025). "The Liver King – this hilarious exposé is like Tiger King … but with way more genital eating". The Guardian. Retrieved August 8, 2025.