Where is the Liver King now? Here’s what happened after the organ-eating influencer’s steroid scandal

Key Points

• Brian Johnson, a.k.a. the Liver King, is the subject of a new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King.

• The businessman and gonzo social media influencer promoted a controversial diet comprised primarily of raw animal organs.

• His lucrative health and fitness empire collapsed after the promoter of all things natural was revealed to be on steroids and human growth hormone.

If you’ve ever scrolled through social media, you’ve likely seen the Liver King.

The bearded, oft-shirtless health influencer and supplement-peddler is hard to miss, what with his bulging, leathery physique and penchant for ripping into raw animal organs with his teeth while brandishing assault rifles. And for a while, his videos were everywhere.

Born Brian Johnson, the Liver King found viral fame through bizarre videos of promoting the “ancestral lifestyle,” performing ill-advised strength stunts, and eating raw, unprocessed animal organs, specifically liver. He insisted that an all-natural and raw carnivorous diet was the key to health and happiness — and that it could make you as jacked as him. (Many scientists disagree.)

In a new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King, we learn that, after racking up millions of followers across multiple social platforms, he was making more than $100 million a year from supplement sales, ads, sponsorship deals, and other revenue streams.

But, as Joe Pearlman’s film chronicles, it all came crashing down in late 2022 when leaked emails revealed the Liver King’s physique wasn’t as “natty” as he claimed.

So, where is the Liver King now? Read on as we unpack the documentary’s biggest revelations and check in on wh​at’s new with Johnson.

Who is the Liver King?

The Liver King is Brian Johnson, a 48-year-old Texan who found fame in the late 2010s by promoting an all-natural diet comprised primarily of bone broth, uncooked eggs, and raw, unprocessed beef livers, testicles, tongues, and other organs.

His bulging, veiny physique and flair for the dramatic made him a celebrity on social media, where he promoted his supplements and lifestyle in between absurd comedy skits, strength challenges, and clips of him shooting processed food products with shotguns and assault weapons.

As he reveals in the documentary, Johnson considered himself a “runt” as a child. Due in part to his worship of action heroes like Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo, he turned to fitness to build up his confidence and overcome bullying.

Around the time he turned 30, he began living what he calls an “ancestral lifestyle,” which includes core tenets like “sleep,” “eat,” and “move,” as well as an emphasis on cold plunges and family bonding. He also recommends sleeping on a wooden palette, keeping “your cell phone away from your dick and balls,” and avoiding “xenoestrogen-laden perfumes.”

Johnson developed a talent for showmanship, marketing, and gaming social media algorithms, helping to raise his profile and reap major profits for his Ancestral Supplements brand.

Was the Liver King on steroids?

Yes, Johnson was taking steroids and human growth hormone (HGH) at the height of his fame, though he aggressively denied it during interviews with reporters and podcast hosts like Logan Paul. According to Johnson, his physique was a natural outcome of his carnivore diet and fitness regimen.

Many fitness-oriented media figures, such as the podcast host Joe Rogan, expressed skepticism, leading Johnson to broadcast parodies mocking the accusations.

Johnson’s steroid use was exposed in late 2022, when leaked emails revealed that he was paying upwards of $11,000 a month for massive doses of Omnitrope, a pharmacy-grade HGH supplement, among other substances. This was a betrayal for his fans, who took issue with the all-natural, back-to-the-earth influencer regularly consuming synthesized performance-enhancing drugs.

His business (and follower counts) suffered as a result of the exposure.

Did the Liver King apologize?

The influencer initially claimed the emails were photoshopped, but eventually fessed up in an apology posted to his YouTube account on Dec. 1, 2022. “I lied and I misled a lot of people,” he admits in the video, but emphasizes that his steroid use shouldn’t impact his broader messages about diet and fitness.

In the film, a former business associate says, “If the steroids were a lever to amplify the reach and impact of the message, that was a price he was willing to pay.”

After being forced to unpack his deception in the documentary, Johnson tearfully turns back to his childhood traumas and absent father, crediting his steroid use to a lack of self-esteem.

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But he also admits to deceiving many people in his life. It began, Johnson says in the doc, by using his position as a manager at GNC as a teenager to craft fake receipts and return used supplements to other stores. As he got older, he began making unspecified drugs at his home and partaking in “international drug trading.”

“My perception of risk [became] distorted,” he explains. “I just never got caught.”

Where is the Liver King now?

Johnson appears to be taking a break from the online influencer game. His only posts on TikTok, X, and Instagram since mid-March are to promote Untold: The Liver King. The same goes for his wife, beauty entrepreneur Bozena “Barbara” Johnson, a.k.a. the Liver Queen.

His reduced social media presence may be due to audiences turning on the guru — many comments on his most recent videos are critical and accusatory.

However, he continues to sell products via his Ancestral Supplements website.

The epilogue to Untold: The Liver King finds Johnson declaring that he’s no longer on performance-enhancing drugs. He also says he doesn’t adhere to a strict carnivore diet and has begun growing and eating fruits and vegetables again.

“Vegetables and testicles, I can have all of it,” he says while roaming the garden on his ranch. “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.”

He adds, “I guess I want the world to know I was wrong. I got all of it wrong… [An] extreme approach to anything probably ain’t f—in’ working out.”

That said, Johnson claims to still live by his ancestral tenets. He also hopes to open 302 health retreats in the coming years.

Where can I watch Untold: The Liver King?

Untold: The Liver King is currently streaming on Netflix.

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