The social media personality made threats to Rogan on Instagram, according to Austin police.
AUSTIN, Texas — A social media personality known for his carnivorous diet was arrested in Austin for allegedly threatening podcast host Joe Rogan.
Brian Johnson, better known as the “Liver King,” was arrested Tuesday and charged with Terroristic Threat after he allegedly made threats against Rogan on Instagram.
The Austin Police Department (APD) said detectives reviewed the posts and learned that Johnson was traveling to Austin while continuing to make “threatening statements.” Detectives contacted Rogan, who said he had never had any interaction with Johnson but that he did consider the posts to be “threatening.”
After obtaining an arrest warrant, police located Johnson around 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Four Seasons Hotel on San Jacinto Boulevard. He was taken into custody without incident and booked into the Travis County Jail on the Class B misdemeanor charge.
APD said this remains an active investigation.
A video of Johnson’s arrest was posted to his Instagram account on Tuesday.
Who is the Liver King?
With 6.1 million TikTok followers, nearly 3 million Instagram followers and more than 1 million subscribers on YouTube, Johnson is known for his “ancestral lifestyle.”
His diet consists of large amounts of raw organs and meat, including liver, and his videos range from workouts to cold plunges. He emphasizes 10 tenets of his lifestyle, which are eat, sleep, move, connect, sun, cold, shield, fight, evolve and bond.
Earlier this year, Johnson was featured in a Netflix documentary called “Watch Untold: The Liver King.”
Before attaining a social media following, Johnson owned a stake in the dental practice owned by his wife, Barbara – known online as the “Liver Queen.” The couple also own companies that sell supplements based on their lifestyle.
After initially denying allegations that he used steroids, in 2022, a YouTuber leaked e-mails and blood test results that appeared to show Johnson was spending $11,000 a month on performance-enhancing drugs. Several days later, Johnson posted a video on his own channel, admitting he used steroids and apologizing to his following.
Johnson and his wife have two sons, who they refer to as their “liver boys.”