Liver King

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Liver King
Born
Brian Johnson

1976 or 1977 (age 46–47)[1]
Years active2021–present
TikTok information
Followers5.7 million
Likes105.2 million
Last updated: 17 March 2024
YouTube information
Subscribers748 thousand
Total views66.6 million
Last updated: 17 March 2024

Brian Johnson, known by his online alias Liver King, is an American fitness social media influencer and businessman.[2][3] He is known for promoting what he calls an "ancestral lifestyle", which includes 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 on a YouTube video.[7][8]

Early life[edit]

Brian Johnson was born in 1976 or 1977.[1] The Johnson's 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 AFB in San Antonio, Texas. When Brian's father, Philip D. Johnson, died suddenly while Brian was still an infant, he and his brother Henry stayed in San Antonio due to a military-assisted living situation and were raised by a single mother.[9]

Brian grew up very active in sports and especially loved BMX, but was undersized for his age, had a bad speech impediment that required extensive vocal therapy, and was bullied frequently. On the first day of middle school, Johnson was allegedly knocked unconscious after a bully punched him in the back of the head.[10] Brian became severely depressed and angry after the incident, admitting to creating a “kill list” and contemplated bringing a gun to school, but instead turned to lifting weights so he could “turn his muscles into a weapon more lethal than a gun.” Johnson was further encouraged to lift weights when local gang members frequently challenged him to fights due to his physique; the more fights he got into meant he needed to become stronger, but the stronger he looked meant more people would challenge him to fights.

Brian attended John Marshall High School in Leon Valley, Texas, where he lettered in football.[11] He was a very poor student and was “laughed out of the admission office” when he tried applying to the University of Texas. He instead attended San Antonio Community College, flunking out once, before turning his grades around and enrolling at Texas Tech University, where he majored in biochemistry studies and graduated with honors.[12] He later relocated to Houston to pursue a job at a pharmaceutical practice.[13]

Career[edit]

Johnson spent over a decade working at his wife’s dental practice in Houston, but the two retired when they agreed to focus on raising their kids. Around this time, Johnson founded the Ancestral Lifestyle, a social media platform that would promote health and lifestyle. He was inspired to create a self-help platform after reading a statistic that said “4,000 Americans commit suicide per month,” which he related to from his childhood depression.[14] Johnson officially adopted the nickname “Liver King” in 2017. Johnson owns a dietary supplement company, Heart & Soil, together with fellow influencer Paul Saladino.[15]

Controversy[edit]

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] Health science professors Nicholas Gibbs and Timothy Piatkowski advise that "following Liver King's dietary advice is undoutably dangerous" and that doing so could "lead to potential bodily injury and severe physiological peril."[16]

Despite repeatedly denying having ever used anabolic steroids to attain his physique, it was revealed in late 2022 that he regularly used multiple drugs, including synthetic IGF1 and testosterone, and spent $11,000 on pharmaceuticals a month.[17] 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.[18]

In the aftermath of the revelations, some of Johnson's followers filed a lawsuit, accusing Johnson of deception and demanding $25 million in compensation.[19] The lawsuit was later discontinued.[20]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Joe Rogan Accuses Dwayne Johnson & Others of 'Not Being Clean'". Men's Health. 6 December 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b c d Cao, Steffi (2022-03-02). "Liver King Might Be The Biggest Bro Influencer We Have Ever Seen". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  3. ^ Aggeler, Madeleine (5 May 2022). "How the Liver King Built an Empire by Eating Raw Organ Meat". GQ. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  4. ^ a b Jarry, Jonathan (28 January 2022). "The Liver King Wants You to Dominate Your Health Like a Caveman". Office for Science and Society. McGill University. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  5. ^ a b Taylor, Anne (29 August 2022). "What A Nutritionist Really Thinks About The Liver King Diet - Exclusive". Health Digest. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  6. ^ Weiss, Geoff (2022-12-30). "Raw-meat influencer The Liver King is facing a $25 million class-action lawsuit after admitting he secretly used steroids". Business Insider. Retrieved 2024-03-26.
  7. ^ Amenabar, Teddy; O’Connor, Anahad (2022-12-10). "TikTok 'Liver King' touted raw organ meat diet. He also took steroids". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-06-07.
  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 2023-06-07.
  9. ^ "DAD DIES WHEN I WAS ONLY TWO... NO MEMORY OF HIM. RAISED BY A SINGLE-MOM". Liverking.com.
  10. ^ "Liver King: I GOT KNOCKED-THE-FUCK OUT DOZENS OF TIMES IN MIDDLE SCHOOL..." Liverkingtruth.com.
  11. ^ "Liver King Biography, age, real name, wife, children, degree, occupation, net worth".
  12. ^ "TT alumn embroiled in STRONG controversy". KKAM.com.
  13. ^ "NEVER APOLOGIZE… "NOPE, NOT SORRY AFTERALL"". Liverking.com.
  14. ^ 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".
  15. ^ "Is an All-Meat Diet What Nature Intended?". The New Yorker. 2023-09-25. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  16. ^ "The Liver King Lie: Misrepresentation, justification, and public health implications". Science Direct.
  17. ^ Cao, Steffi (2022-12-02). "Liver King, The TikTok Creator Who Eats Raw Bull Testicles For Dinner, Is On Steroids". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  18. ^ Weiss, Geoff (2 December 2022). "The Liver King, an influencer who eats raw meat and preaches a primal lifestyle, admits to lying about steroid use". Insider. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
  19. ^ Goanta, Catalina; Conversation, The (2023-01-31). "The rise and fall of the Liver King—a social media sensation who is now being sued by his followers for $25 million". Fortune. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
  20. ^ Xie, Teresa (2023-09-22). "Raw Meat-Eating Liver King And Other Health Influencers Face Mounting Lawsuits". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2023-12-21.
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