Liver King, 45, admits lying about taking steroids to achieve his muscular physique

A TikTok influencer known for preaching the benefits of eating raw meat has admitted to taking steroids to achieve his muscular physique.

Brian Johnson, better known by his online pseudonym ‘Liver King’, admitted in a six-minute video on Friday that he has used steroids in the past and continues to receive 0.6 milliliters of testosterone each week.

Johnson, 45, rose to internet fame late last year when he began posting exercise videos, often shirtless, that showcased his undulating physique and quirky eating habits.

The influencer has repeatedly denied in interviews that he used steroids, saying he “stays away from that stuff” while amassing a massive following and a multi-million dollar empire.

Instead, he attributed his physical and financial success to his liver-eating lifestyle, billed to the millions who subscribe to his beliefs as “ancestral living.”

But he took a different tone on Friday when he apologized to his fans for his years of cheating and tried to explain that he has self-esteem issues.

In Friday’s video, Johnson openly confesses that he has been lying to the public about his drug use, though he praised the benefits of taking extra testosterone.

“I’m making this video to apologize because I screwed up, because I’m embarrassed and ashamed, because I lied,” he begins.

He then goes on to explain why he lied to the public, saying, “I said this is a fucking complicated topic, at least for me it is, because before social media I was rich and anonymous, and after social media, I’m still rich but no longer anonymous

“I never expected this kind of exposure in the public eye,” Johnson continued. “It’s been very difficult to navigate.”

“Well, clearly I did it wrong, and now I’m here to set the record straight: yes I’ve been on steroids, yes I’m on steroids, monitored and managed by a trained hormone doctor,” she revealed.

Johnson then began to talk about why he created the Liver King persona, calling it “an experiment in getting the message out.” [and] to raise awareness among the 4,000 people a day who commit suicide, the 80,000 people a day who attempt suicide.

‘Our people are suffering at record rates with depression, autoimmune diseases [issues]anxiety, infertility, little ambition in life’, he says, stating: ‘Our young people are the ones who suffer the most, they feel lost, weak and submissive.

‘So I made it my job to model, teach and preach a simple and elegant solution called “ancestral life” so that our people no longer have to suffer, so that we can collectively express our highest and most dominant form.

“This is my fight,” he said. ‘That is why I exist.’

Johnson has amassed millions of dollars and paying subscribers since late last year as he regularly posted videos showing him feasting on raw liver while promoting extreme training techniques billed as those of a modern-day caveman warrior.

He would repeatedly state that his appearance is “all natural” and the result of following his “nine ancient principles”: sleep, eat, move, shelter, connect, cold, sun, fight, and bond.

These performances helped boost the online business of internet figurehead Ancestral Supplements, where users can buy capsules containing beef organs, fish eggs, bone marrow and other exotic animal products touted as the key to their success.

In the meantime, he said in the video posted Friday, he convinced himself that his steroid use “had nothing to do with the ancestral message.”

“I’ve convinced myself that I’m not a competitive athlete of any kind, so who the hell am I kidding?” he said. “I became convinced that this was the vocal minority, usually in the fitness category that leads to unproductive conversation, and I became convinced that this would be the wrong message to send to 15-year-olds.

“So I’ve continually written it off, and I’ve only sunk myself into a bigger, deeper hole,” he said, adding: “I only have myself to blame.”

Johnson then went on to tout the benefits of taking additional doses of testosterone, saying, “I believe there is a time and a place for pharmacological intervention, supervised and managed by a hormone physician.”

He revealed that he tried “various peptide combinations in an effort to boost my growth hormone” but claimed they didn’t really help before saying he went to the doctor and started using pharmaceutical growth hormone “and eventually got therapeutic levels under control.” in the normal range.’

Johnson also denied that he takes “any other steroids like nandrolone or Winstrol,” but admitted, “I’ve tried them in the past with no success.”

And he denied having had abdominal implants or abdominal taping, adding: “I’m sure I never had gene editing done in Singapore.” I made all that up, it was just supposed to be a joke.

Still, he maintains, “The Liver King brand has had nothing to do with the success of my business,” stating, “My companies were already kicking**, already successful before Liver King’s public figure, growing 50 percent.” hundred year after year and continues to grow at the same rate after that.’

That’s when he decided to reveal that he’s among the 85 percent of Americans who suffer from self-esteem issues, saying, ‘that’s me, I’m part of that statistic.’

“That’s why I work myself to death in the gym,” he said. “That’s why I do 12 to 15 blood-burning workouts a day just to feel like I’m good.”

“Still, I absolutely have to crush myself to do it, and I’m physically and cognitively wrecked, and hormone replacement has helped me in a profound and significant way,” he said. “And I still believe that the road to Paradise is paved in a fucking hell.”

“I fully recognize that I screwed up,” Johnson concluded. “All I can do is take extreme ownership right now, be better, and lead myself to a better life as a better human being.”

The revelations come just days after a fitness personality known only as Derek, who is famous for exposing other bodybuilders’ steroid use, posted a revealing video accusing the Liver King of using steroids extensively.

The one hour video called ‘The Liver King Lie’, had been viewed nearly 1.5 million times, aand shared exchanges between Johnson and an anonymous bodybuilding trainer.

In the video, Derek, something of a fitness watchdog with more than 1.4 million subscribers, shared emails purportedly sent by Johnson that featured an extensive hormone regimen costing him $12,000 per month.

The emails, Derek claimed, were sent to an anonymous bodybuilding trainer in mid-2021, before Johnson launched his Liver King brand and appeared as the CEO of a store 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 presents plans to gain a million followers on social networks in a matter of months through intense exercise, with the help of three daily injections of human growth hormone ( HGH).

In it, the submitter believed to be Johnson laments hitting a training wall now that he’s in his 40s, asking for guidance in a contrived effort to close that gap.

“I’ve been exercising for 35 years,” the initial correspondence reads.

“I know how to eat, train, rest, and recover (I even have a rigid hyperbaric chamber in my house)…but…as I’ve gotten into my mid-40s, it’s getting harder.”

The sender, whose identity has yet to be confirmed, goes on to complain that “fucking back fat kills me.”

Derek then recounted, in detail, an earlier email from 2021 purportedly from Johnson in his own inbox, in which the future Liver King expresses interest in acquiring HGH to enhance his physique.

Less than a year later, Johnson’s videos propelled him to fame.