Austin police arrested fitness-influencer Brian Johnson, known online as “Liver King,” on Tuesday evening after he posted a series of Instagram videos threatening podcaster Joe Rogan and drove from Willis, Texas, to the capital. Officers took Johnson, 47, into custody without incident at the Four Seasons Hotel and charged him with one Class B misdemeanor count of making a terroristic threat.
According to an arrest affidavit, detectives reviewed social-media posts in which Johnson, brandishing gold-plated rifles and wearing an animal-fur headdress, challenged Rogan to a fight and declared, “You’re dead.” Rogan told investigators he had never interacted with Johnson, considered the messages threatening and believed the influencer was “significantly unstable” and possibly battling a drug problem.
Johnson was released from Travis County Jail on Wednesday after posting a $20,000 bond. Court records show he must stay at least 200 yards from Rogan and his family, wear an ankle monitor, surrender firearms and undergo a mental-health evaluation within a week. The case remains under investigation.
The arrest is the latest twist in the social-media star’s rapid rise and fall. Johnson, who promotes an “ancestral” raw-meat diet to nearly 3 million Instagram followers and was recently profiled in a Netflix documentary, admitted in 2022 to extensive steroid use after initially denying it. Rogan had publicly criticized Johnson’s claims, a feud that appears to have fueled the online outbursts that led to this week’s criminal charge.
It was Joe Rogan's security team who initially alerted police to 'The Liver King's unhinged behavior online
Rogan eventually told police he believed "The Liver King" was “significantly unstable and seems like he needs help"