Raw meat, testicles and steroids: it’s certainly one of the more interesting health-fad diets out there.
Netflix’s new documentary Untold: The Liver King tells the story of Brian Johnson, a TikToker who achieved fame by promoting the benefits of an ‘ancestral’ diet and way of living that, he claimed, gave him his massive physique.
Johnson shot to fame online by showing off his lifestyle – which included sticking to traditional gender roles, flogging his supplements online and telling fans about the nine fundamental ‘Ancestral Tenets’ he thought people should follow: sleep, eat, move, shield, connect, cold, sun, fight, and bond.
He was also popular for his rejection of ultra-processed meals and modern medicine – instead advocating for plenty of sunlight, raw food and exercise. This included using graphic imagery on social media – including eating raw liver (hence the name), and dragging weights around with his teeth.
During this period, he fiercely denied using steroids. "I don't touch the stuff," he told Mark Bell's Power Project podcast in 2022. “I've never done the stuff. I'm not going to do the stuff.”
Perhaps unsurprisingly, this then collapsed later when a leaked email revealed that he was spending $11,000 a month on steroids. This was followed by a YouTube confession.
"Yes, I've done steroids, and yes, I'm on steroids, monitored and managed by a trained hormone clinician.” he said at the time.
This was followed by a change of heart towards the end of the documentary that saw him embracing a more balanced way of living, stopping his steroid use and adding fruit and vegetables into his diet.
“I was so convinced all of the carnivore stuff, well, that's all you needed to really kick ass in life. I'm convinced now I was starving myself," he said. “I guess I want the world to know that I was wrong. I got all of it wrong... there's a lot more that I don't know than I do know.”
There was a massive backlash to this: some of his supporters sued him for $25m, citing manipulation and fraud, though this case was eventually dropped.
Where is Johnson now?
He’s still incredibly popular online, believe it or not: he still has 6.1m TikTok followers, as well as 2.9m followers on Instagram, despite rarely posting on any of his socials. When he does, it’s of himself doing exercises at the family home in Texas, though his feed is notably free of any food content or indeed any mention of steroids at all. The Netflix documentary appears to be an attempt to pivot his brand and be ‘open and honest’ with his followers – though whether this will work remains to be seen.
It also seems as though his bond with his family remains as strong as it ever was. In a post shared on Valentine’s Day, he shared a video of himself and his wife, Barbara, working out together. “My Queen, I honor you,” he wrote.
Untold: The Liver King is streaming now on Netflix
