Why did Liver King get arrested? Joe Rogan controversy and charges explained amid a spate of concerning videos

Social media influencer and fitness enthusiast Liver King, whose real name is Brian Johnson, is currently facing legal troubles. On June 24, 2025, KXAN reported that Liver King was arrested in Austin, Texas, and charged with a single count of terroristic threat, a class B misdemeanor. So far, it is still unclear who the alleged threat was directed at. Other details about the case have also not been released.

According to the media outlet, the Austin Police Department took Johnson into custody and later transferred him to Travis County Jail, as per the prison records reviewed by them.

In the wake of the influencer's arrest, his latest rant about conservative host and podcaster Joe Rogan has come to light. On June 23, 2025, Liver King took to his Instagram and shared a video post where he stated:

“Joe Rogan, I’m calling you out, my name’s Liver King. Man to man, I’m picking a fight with you. 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.”

In the video, Liver King appeared wearing a long wolf-head cap and holding gold-plated guns. Several other videos against Rogan were also posted on King's social media.

Joe Rogan hasn't responded to Brian Johnson's rant against him as of the time of writing.

---

More about the Liver King and Joe Rogan controversy

On June 21, 2025, Liver King called out Joe Rogan and challenged him to a fight. He took to Instagram and posted a series of video posts, claiming he would pay the UFC commentator "pay."

“What I’m hoping is that you, Joe Rogan, are thinking ‘I’m gonna choke that motherf**ker out, lights out, I’m gonna choke him out’, and I kind of hope that if you win, that’s how it happens. Anything else you can break on me, break it on me,” King stated.

He continued by asking Rogan what he had in his life to fight for.

“You won’t feel me tap, that’s never happening, tapping, because I have something to actually fight for, my family… What do you have to fight for? I hope you’re mad… You’ve got a black belt in jiu-jitsu. I hope you choke me out, and if you don’t choke me out, these other limbs will be interesting,” Johnson added.

The YouTuber mentioned how he had thought through his "game plan" against Joe. While he promised he was "not gonna train," he hoped the podcaster was training, stating, "I'm ready whenever you're ready."

Liver King shared that it was long overdue and would be "fun," as there was "real tension" between the two of them.

“This is actually happening, it’ll be fun… There’s real tension… Shame on you, I’m gonna make you pay,” Johnson said.

In a follow-up video, Liver King stated that he was picking a fight with Joe Rogan because it mattered to him, as the latter had once ridiculed him on his podcast. King stated that his value is his principle and that Rogan shouldn't have picked a fight with a "real king" and then expected there not to be "an actual fight."

Johnson also proposed that whoever won the fight should go home with a million dollars and later donate it to a charity that's "good and true."

---

What did Joe Rogan say about Liver King?

Joe once mocked the fitness influencer on his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience saying King was "full of sh*t." In December 2022, Rogan had fitness entrepreneur Derek Munro on his show and claimed that he got "jacked" because he followed a routine, unlike Liver King, who at the time was facing his steroids scandal.

"Hey Derek, you know how I got so jacked? I followed the nine ancestral tenants. Yeah, I’m on testosterone, unlike the Liver King. I’ll tell you the truth," Rogan said back then.

The podcaster went on:

"He was telling people that he gets that away by sunning his b**ls... he literally lays down with his a**hole staring at the sun and eats raw liver and just lifts like a maniac, and that's how he's so jacked. It's preposterous."

Joe Rogan further mentioned running into Live King at one of the MMA matches he was covering in Las Vegas, adding the fitness enthusiast was reportedly trying "real hard" to get on his podcast.

“He contacted a few friends of mine, and some of them, like Bert Kreischer, had him on their show. For what? Say that [apology] more? Like, come on, this is dumb, man... You ran a con game, and you got busted,” Rogan added.

Joe also mentioned that everyone felt terrible when they were caught lying, stating that the easy way was not "to lie."

At the time, Johnson was dealing with his steroids controversy. Throughout his fame, the influencer had managed to convince his followers that his physique was a result of following nine "ancestral tenets," including eating raw meat. He purposely denied using steroids until 2022, when a series of his private emails were leaked online by Derek Munro.

They revealed King spent thousands of dollars per month on anabolic steroids, synthetic IGF1, testosterone shots, and other performance-enhancing drugs. Later, he apologized to his fans on YouTube for misleading them over the years about his lifestyle and "pharmaceutical intervention," adding that there is a "time and place" for such interventions.

He was also sued for $25 million by a few of his viewers for deception. However, the lawsuit was dismissed. In his 2025 Netflix documentary UNTOLD: The Liver King, the YouTuber further discussed the steroids scandal.

---

According to local Austin news channel KXAN, King was arrested on Tuesday evening. A video of the moment has now gone viral and shows him wearing a burgundy hoodie and sweatpants, getting handcuffed, and later placed inside a police vehicle.

Edited by Maithreyi S