Influencer ‘Liver King’ Arrested, Ordered to Stay Away From Joe Rogan

Fitness influencer Brian Johnson, better known online as “Liver King,” was arrested Tuesday evening at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas, on a Class B misdemeanor charge of making a terroristic threat. Austin police said the 47-year-old had posted a series of Instagram videos in which he challenged podcaster Joe Rogan to a fight and announced he was travelling from his home in Willis, Texas, to confront him.

According to the arrest affidavit, detectives reviewed posts showing Johnson wearing an animal-fur headdress, brandishing what appeared to be gold-plated short-barrel rifles and declaring, “Joe Rogan, I’m calling you out.” Rogan told officers he had never met Johnson, interpreted the posts as threatening and believed the influencer “appears to be significantly unstable.” Police took Johnson into custody without incident shortly after 6 p.m.

Johnson was booked into Travis County Jail and released the next day after posting a $20,000 bond. Court records require him to remain at least 200 yards from Rogan and his family, surrender any firearms, wear a GPS ankle monitor and undergo a mental-health evaluation within seven days. A preliminary hearing is set for July 16.

Since his release, Johnson has resumed posting online, reiterating his desire to fight Rogan and even proposing a $10 million bout. Investigators said the case remains open while they monitor his compliance with the restraining order.

Johnson built a following of several million by promoting an “ancestral” lifestyle that includes eating raw organ meat. He was the subject of a recent Netflix documentary that detailed his rise and his 2022 admission that he used steroids despite earlier denials.