‘Ancestral lifestyle’ influencer admits lying
A social media influencer dedicated to living an “ancestral lifestyle,” who has an extremely muscular physique and eats a diet of mainly raw meat, has admitted to using steroids.
Brian Johnson, or Liver King as he is known online, released a 6½-minute video entitled Liver King Confession ... I Lied on his Youtube channel on Thursday.
The Liver King account on Tiktok has amassed 3.5 million followers and on Instagram 1.7 million. In videos online, he can be seen eating raw meat, such as liver, bone marrow and even testicles — and promoting the diet to his followers. He also shows his gruelling workouts.
This video contains explicit language.
He said he was “embarrassed and ashamed,” but still felt “grateful” to have an opportunity to finally be open about his experience.
“Before social media, I was rich and anonymous,” said Johnson. “After social media, I’m still rich but no longer anonymous. I never expected this kind of exposure in the public eye.”
Despite his large physique, he denied using steroids. “I don’t touch that stuff,” he told GQ.
But Johnson was still accused of taking the muscle-enhancing drugs by many, including podcast host Joe Rogan. “Liver King thing drives me nuts,” said Rogan, “‘cause that guy’s on steroids.”
On Thursday, Johnson admitted to using steroids in the past and to being on them currently. “I’m on steroids monitored and managed by a trained hormone clinician,” he said.
Johnson said he started taking steroids because of self-esteem issues.
His motivation behind the social media accounts was to raise awareness about people who are suicidal and to help them, as well as those who are “hurting at record rates, with depression, autoimmune (disorders), anxiety, infertility, low ambition in life. Our young men are hurting the most, feeling lost, weak and submissive,” he said.
His solution: ancestral living, a simpler way of life — like when humans would hunt for animals and eat every part of them. Johnson found this method worked for him and decided to bring it to the masses by freeze-drying meat into capsules that he sells online through his company, Ancestral Supplements. He also developed nine ancestral tenets to achieve a happy, healthy life.
“All I can do is take extreme ownership right now,” he said.