- The Liver King, who preaches primal living, admitted he used steroids to achieve his physique.
- A $25 million class-action suit now alleges that he misled customers to sell his supplements.
The Liver King, a fitness influencer who admitted he lied about using steroids — initially claiming he'd achieved his physique by following so-called ancestral tenets like eating raw animal organs — is now facing legal blowback.
A $25 million class-action suit has been filed in New York against the influencer, whose real name is Brian Johnson, alleging he deceptively touted a primal lifestyle to promote his various businesses.
The suit names Johnson as well as two of his supplement companies: Ancestral Supplements and workout-focused The Fittest. The former offers products like MOFO: Male Optimization Formula, while the latter sells The Fittest Liver King Bar.
"This action arises from an elaborate, well-orchestrated marketing and advertising scheme," reads the suit, alleging Johnson deceived and misled "vulnerable and health-conscious consumers."
Johnson has roughly 1.7 million Instagram followers, 4 million TikTok followers, and just under 250,000 YouTube subscribers. He uses his platform to promote practices like taking freezing showers, walking barefoot, and eating raw liver and bull testicles.
The suit calls this approach "cult-like" and "implausible," while referring to a raw meat diet as "dangerous and life-threatening."
The suit continues: "Liver King's ongoing denial of using any steroid or other performance-enhancing drug, and misrepresentations concerning his alleged adherence to the ancestral tenets, further induced consumers to trust and rely on the efficacy of the ancestral tenets and purchase the products."
It is being filed on behalf of anyone who has ordered any of Johnson's products.
Johnson did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. Representatives for his companies told The New York Post, "We have not been served with any lawsuit at this point and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on pending litigation."
Johnson admitted to using steroids on December 1, three days after fellow fitness creator More Plates More Dates shared screenshots of what appeared to be emails between Johnson and a bodybuilding coach. In one email, the sender wrote that he was taking $11,000 worth of the growth hormone Omnitrope per month, as well as a cocktail of other drugs.
In his YouTube apology, Johnson suggested there was room for "pharmacological intervention" within his ancestral ideology, so long as it was "monitored and managed by a trained hormone physician."
Johnson is one of a number of influencers who promote a diet that includes raw meat. Advocates say this way of eating can help with a range of symptoms from mental health to auto-immune disorders, but some nutrition experts argue anecdotal evidence isn't enough.
Bonnie Taub-Dix, a registered dietitian, previously told Insider, "When you eat raw meat you run the risk of developing food poisoning," adding that some raw meat may also contain parasites like roundworms or tapeworms.
Common pathogens in raw meat and organs include E. coli, salmonella, Campylobacter, and listeria, Taub-Dix said.