HE’S the muscle-bound ‘barbarian’ who claimed his enlarged physique was down to a stomach-churning diet of animal liver, testicles and fertilised chicken eggs.
Daring stunts including bench-pressing 405lb weights underwater, pulling trucks on chains and caveman-like hunting techniques earned Brian Johnson millions of followers online.
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The married dad-of-two was raking in $100million in sales annually from his supporters, known as ‘Primals’, who eagerly snapped up his offal-based pills.
But in 2022 it all came crashing down when ‘Liver King’ Brian – who boasts of building a $300million empire – was revealed as a heavy user of anabolic steroids who spent $11,000-a-month to preserve his super-sized shape.
Emails leaked by a social media influencer showed him seeking out “pharmacy grade human growth hormones”, described as a “f***ing really, really high, super-expensive dosage”.
Reflecting on that moment, which followed years of stern denials of steroid use, disgraced Brian, now 47, says: “There was no denying that man, I knew he got me.”
He also apologised to his followers and admitted to taking 120mg of testosterone a week.
His remarkable rise and fall is the focus of new Netflix documentary Untold: The Liver King, out on Tuesday, which reveals his path from bullied “runt” to controversial influencer and shamed con artist.
And to the horror of critics, who have dubbed him a ‘snake oil salesman’, he tells of a secret criminal past even before his Liver King days – and brags he is still shamelessly flogging supplements around the world.
Growing up in Texas, Brian claims he always felt like an outcast – in part due to a speech impediment that left him a target for classmates.
“I was getting picked on, bullied, beat the f*** up,” he says. “Nobody was there for me, I just felt powerless, the feeling of helplessness and [being] completely lost.”
Brian tells the documentary he felt alone. His father, a veterinary nurse in the US Air Force, died suddenly when he was an infant and without a male role model he was lost.
He began to idolise his older brother, who was tall, strong and able to grow facial hair, as well as action hero actors Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone.
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‘Caveman cult’
Brian went on to fall for his future wife and ‘Liver Queen’, Barbara, with the pair having two sons.
He claims to have stumbled across the ‘ancestral lifestyle’ – the caveman-based way of life that saw him chomp down on three large bull testicles a day – while researching health remedies for his children.
“My kids were really f***ing sick,” he recalls, saying the family constantly had to race to the hospital due to them suffering worrying allergy reactions including anaphylactic shock.
Brian would claim eating the offal-only diet solved their mystery ailments and also cured psoriasis, helped pregnancy and aided weight loss up to 20kg (3st 2lb) in six months for others.
I felt new levels of invincibility, that level is dangerous… It was like doing cocaine
Brian ‘Liver King’ Johnson
The lifestyle was based on ‘nine ancestral tenets’ – sleep, eat, move, shield, connect, cold, sun, fight and bond – which he claims are the “life forces that have nourished our DNA for millions of years”.
There is no scientific proof to back up their claims.
His interpretation of the tenets would see him ‘shield’ himself by turning off WiFi at night, banishing phones from bedrooms and not using hormone-based fragrances to reduce any impact to fertility.
Consumption-wise, he followed a raw, uncooked meat-only diet – quipping that it was “lots of balls, lots of penises” in one video.
He would also down up to 50 fertilised eggs at a time and scoff liver, tongue and testicles fresh from the carcass of a bull he had killed seconds earlier.
He also hoarded enough guns – including flamethrowers, assault rifles, 12 gauge shotguns, pistols and explosive ammo – to arm a small country.
Dangers of eating raw meat
The NHS advises thoroughly cooking any meat you plan to eat, to avoid illness.
There are many risks associated with eating raw meat, such as Salmonella, Listeria and E.coli – all of these are destroyed when meat is cooked properly.
If you eat rotten meat then it’s likely you will get food poisoning with symptoms including nausea, vomiting, and diarrhoea.
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‘Muscled Andrew Tate’
By 2017, he was known as the ‘Liver King’ online. Four years later, he had millions of followers, appeared on popular podcasts including The Joe Rogan Experience, and was making a fortune.
His businesses boasted 12 per cent growth every quarter for five years running, more than 250,000 customers a month and annual sales in excess of $100million.
With this success and money, Brian – who was labelled by some a “muscled Andrew Tate” after the ringleader of toxic masculinity – admitted: “I felt new levels of invincibility, that level is dangerous… It was like doing cocaine.”
His posts were becoming increasingly outspoken as he labelled fast food chains like Burger King “the most brutal f***ing thing” and said feeding youngsters food from US restaurant chain Chick-fil-A, as well as chocolate and sweets was “real child abuse”.
The family claimed child services were called on them for allowing one of their sons to crawl inside a dead cow – in a scene very reminiscent of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back – and feeding him animal testicles.
You’re not sorry for all the s*** you did, and the people you could have potentially hurt by eating balls
Liver King critic
But in November 2022, Brian’s empire crumbled after the leak of emails about his steroid use – with online commentators quick to comment he was “juiced out of his brain” and a “filthy fraud”.
In an apology video, he admitted he had “f***ed up” and blamed it on “self-esteem issues”, revealing his longing to ‘be someone’ since childhood and having experienced “very little failure” in his life.
It fell flat among many former supporters, who labelled him a “snake oil salesman” and fumed: “You’re not sorry for all the s*** you did, and the people you could have potentially hurt by eating balls.”
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‘Printed money’
But, as the new documentary reveals, this wasn’t Brian’s first scam either.
His criminal career began when he was working at vitamins company GNC as a teen.
He began conning the firm out of money with customer returns that he would then sell to other branches of the store, stealing receipts to back up his claims.
“With enough trial and error, all you had to do was make it work one time, and then you just repeat it… it worked every single time,” he shamelessly brags.
Brian evolved into making his own products and claims it escalated to the point where he “used to print money, a lot of it” and turned his apartment into a “f***ing chemistry lab” to make knock-off versions of the drugs.
“International drug trading, you know. Higher stakes, higher reward… my perception of risk is becoming distorted. I just never got caught,” he adds.
Of all the scammers, con artists and f***ing liars, the Liver King is f***ing worst one of them
Liver King critic
It’s not known if Brian ever faced charges for that con but in January 2023, after the steroid use was exposed, he was hit with a $25million lawsuit from former followers, alleging harm through deceptive advertising and marketing practices.
They claimed he orchestrated a “cult-like, extreme and implausible regimented lifestyle” to earn millions from the sale of pills, powders and supplements.
But within months of being served, the main plaintiff withdrew the filing – suggesting a financial agreement was brokered away from the courts.
“I dug myself into this whole shame, sorrow, guilt, regret, I felt that man… nothing is more real that,” Brian would later admit.
Now the social media star claims to be “born again” – still boasting 2.9million Instagram followers and 6.1million on TikTok – but now he eats fruit and vegetables too.
“I was so convinced by all the carnivore stuff, that that’s what you needed to really kick ass in life. I’m convinced now that I was starving myself,” Brian says.
The Liver King’s family
So-called ‘Liver King’ Brian Johnson regularly involves his family in his content and all observe his bizarre diet.
He claims it was his kids’ various, yet unnamed, medical ailments that led him to discover the nine ancestral tenets, which he lives by now.
Brian, who remembers countless hospital visits with the boys, recalls: “The real wake-up call was when one of my sons stopped breathing.
“We were lucky. We made it to the hospital just in time. My wife and I were determined to confront the cause. Never to test our luck again.
“We did what all parents would do: we tried everything. And that’s where our journey began.”
As for the lady in Brian’s life that’s Liver Queen, real name Barbara Johnson, who immigrated from Poland to the US when she was 15 years old.
She met Brian on a night out, with him wooing her and pals by sending drinks over to their table.
Barbara works as a dental specialist and also appears in her husband’s videos.
The couple have two sons, named Rad, 13, and Stryker, 15,
“I guess I want the world to know that I got it wrong, each passing day goes by I realise I don’t know s***… an extreme approach to anything probably isn’t f***ing working out.”
“I have this new freedom, I don’t have to lie about anything,” he adds, while acknowledging he still sells supplements and has more than 302 retreats all over the world.
Some believe Brian has atoned for his mistakes, but not all are as sold – especially considering his refusal to fade away into the background.
One critic firmly insists he remains a “snake oil salesman”, adding: “Of all the scammers, con artists and f***ing liars, the Liver King is the f***ing worst one of them.”
Untold: The Liver King is released on Netflix on May 13.