A viral online personality was handcuffed after he took an apparent feud with podcast mogul Joe Rogan a bit too seriously.
Disgraced social media influencer Brian “Liver King” Johnson was arrested in Austin, Texas, after he challenged Rogan — who has black belts in taekwondo and jiu-jitsu — to a fight.
According to the New York Post, Johnson was charged Tuesday with making a terroristic threat to Rogan.
“Man to man, I’m picking a fight with you,” Johnson said in an Instagram video directed toward Rogan, ABC News reported.
He added: “I have no training in jiu-jitsu; you’re a black belt, you should dismantle me. But I’m picking a fight with you. Your rules, I’ll come to you, whenever you’re ready.”
NEW: ‘Liver King’ arrested for traveling to Austin, Texas after making threats against Joe Rogan on social media.
Brian Johnson faces one charge of Terroristic Threat.
Johnson was seen on all fours like a monkey in a video posted shortly before he traveled to Austin.
Johnson… pic.twitter.com/bF8gtkXiug
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) June 25, 2025
“Detectives reviewed the posts and observed that Johnson was traveling to Austin while continuing to make threatening statements,” Austin police said in a statement.
The police added: “Detectives contacted Mr. Rogan, who stated he had never had any interaction with Johnson and considered the posts to be threatening. Based on this information, detectives obtained an arrest warrant for Johnson on a charge of Terroristic Threat.”
Austin’s NBC affiliate, KXAN-TV, reported that Johnson was released on $20,000 bond shortly after being arrested.
However, the brush with law enforcement doesn’t seem to have deterred Johnson, who immediately took to social media to post bizarre videos as if nothing had happened.
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Johnson initially rose to fame on social media under his moniker of “Liver King,” where the influencer would attribute his impressive physique to eating raw liver, animal testicles, and other meats.
In 2022, however, the 47-year-old admitted that his muscular appearance was actually due to his $11,000 a month steroid use.
While Rogan has never had Johnson on as a guest on his ubiquitous podcast, according to the Post, the “Liver King” has been a subject of ridicule on the show before, with Rogan mocking Johnson’s alleged methods for building up his physique.
Despite that mockery and the veil being lifted on his clandestine steroid use, Johnson still enjoys a robust social media presence.
He currently has 3 million followers on Instagram and over 30,000 followers on X.
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