The Liver King built a $100 Million a year kingdom hyping a diet of raw meat and rigorous exercise to achieve “strength, health, and happiness.”
In his viral videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, the organ-devouring Liver King loudly evangelized for an “ancestral” caveman-like lifestyle, eating such delicacies as raw liver, bone marrow, and bull testicles.
He subsequently made a fortune selling protein supplements and dried animal organs through his Heart & Soil and Ancestral brands.
But now the Liver King’s reign as a premier fitness influencer is in jeopardy after he confessed to lying about taking steroids to enhance his jacked body.
Photo by Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC
“I lied, and I misled a lot of people,” said Liver King, whose real name is Brian Johnson, in a somber YouTube video. “Yes, I’ve done steroids, and yes, I am on steroids.”
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The Liver King’s steroid use
Many skeptics, most notably Joe Rogan, were skeptical that the 45-year-old Johnson wasn’t taking performance-enhancing drugs. But Johnson repeatedly denied steroid use.
“I don’t touch the stuff. I’ve never done the stuff. I’m not going to do the stuff,” he said on Mark Bell’s Power Project podcast.
Instead, he pushed a narrative that his family (his wife is The Liver Queen) lived according to “nine ancestral tenants:” to eat, sleep, move, shine, connect, cold, sun, fight, and bond.
But last week, the Liver King’s all-natural facade was exposed by another fitness YouTuber More Plates More Dates, who showed leaked emails from Johnson admitting to taking multiple steroids and asking a dealer to sell him even more. The video also included Johnson’s blood test, which proved steroid use.
Why the Liver King lied
Sitting shirtless on a leather throne, the normally braggadocious Johnson humbly confessed to lying about his steroid use in an apology video. “I am as sorry as a man can be,” he said.
He admitted to taking 120 mg of testosterone per week but denied other rumors, such as getting ab implants or plastic surgery.
Johnson blamed his steroid use on his insecurity.
“When I talk about the 85 percent of the population that suffers from self-esteem issues, that’s me. I’m part of that statistic. This is why I f–ng work myself to death in the gym. This is why I do 12 to 15 blood-burning workouts a week, just to feel like I’m okay,” he said. “And hormone replacement has helped in a profound and significant way.”
Will The Liver King be dethroned? The fate of his empire is unclear, and Johnson isn’t saying much about his future moves.
“All I can do is take extreme ownership right now, be better, and lead myself to a better life as a better human,” he told his millions of followers.
Jonathan Small
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