'Liver King' who became famous online for his natural physique accused of ... trends now
A TikTok influencer famed for preaching the benefits of eating raw meat has been accused of using steroids by another internet personality who claims to have seen leaked emails from the man himself detailing what drugs he uses.
Brian Johnson - better known by his online pseudonym 'Liver King' - rocketed to internet fame late last year when he began posting fitness videos, often shirtless, that showed off his rippling physique and peculiar eating habits.
Johnson has since amassed a massive following as well as multimillion-dollar empire, all while attributing his physical and financial success to his liver-eating lifestyle - billed to the millions who subscribe to his beliefs as 'ancestral living.'
Now, however, Johnson's authenticity has come into question, after leaked emails allegedly sent last year appear to outline the internet star's extensive steroid cycle - as well as his plans to push his body and eventually amass a cult following of more than a million backers.
Johnson would make good on those alleged plans, earning millions of dollars and paying subscribers by encouraging them to follow his all-natural, 'ancestral' diet plan.
Preaching the caveman diet as gospel on platforms such as Barstool Sports and Impulsive with Logan Paul, Johnson would also go on to start his own business - a shop that sells grass-fed beef liver in capsule form, ranging from $30 to $65 a bottle.
On Monday, a fitness personality known only as Derek, who is famed for unmasking fellow bodybuilders as PED users, released a tell all "video containing the bombshell accusations regarding Johnson's rise to fame - and his supposed steroid usage.
The hour-long video, called 'The Liver King Lie,' has been viewed nearly 1.5million times, and shared exchanges between Johnson and an unnamed bodybuilding coach.
Brian Johnson - better known by his online pseudonym 'Liver King' - rocketed to internet fame late last year when he began posting fitness videos that showed off his rippling physique and peculiar eating habits. Johnson's authenticity has come into question, however, after leaked emails allegedly sent last year appear to outline the internet star's extensive steroid cycle
Now, however, Johnson's authenticity has come into question, after leaked emails allegedly sent last year appear to outline the internet star's extensive steroid cycle - as well as his plans to push his body and eventually amass a cult following of more than a million backers
In the video, Derek - a sort of fitness watchdog with more than 1.4 million subscribers - shared emails allegedly sent by Johnson that laid out an extensive hormone regimen costing him $12,000 per month.
The emails, Derek claimed, were sent to an unnamed bodybuilding coach in mid-2021, before Johnson had launched his Liver King brand and surfaced as the CEO of shop that charges $30 to $65 a bottle for capsules containing grass-fed beef liver.
In these messages, a user with an email address attributed to Johnson lays out plans to gain a million social media followers within a matter of months through intense exercise - aided by three daily injections of human growth hormone (HGH).
The email, allegedly sent last year from an address linked to Johnson, detailed the unsettling intake.
In it, the sender thought to be Johnson laments about hitting a workout wall now that he's in his mid-40s, and asks for guidance in an artificial effort to close that gap.
The hourlong video was posted Monday by fitness personality Derek (at right), who is famed for unmasking fellow bodybuilders as PED users. The clip contained bombshell accusations regarding Johnson's rise to fame - and outlines his supposed steroid usage
'I've been working out for 35 years,' the initial correspondence reads.
'I know how to eat, train, rest and recover (I even have a hardshell hyperbaric chamber at my house)... but... as I've reached my mid-forties, it's getting harder.'
The sender, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, goes on to complain that 'the back fat f*cking kills me.'
