AUSTIN, Texas (KXAN) — Authorities in Austin, Texas, have arrested Brian Johnson, known online as the social media influencer “Liver King,” according to jail records.
He faces one charge of terroristic threat, a Class B misdemeanor.
Sources confirmed with NewsNation affiliate KXAN that the Brian Johnson listed in the jail log is in fact the social media influencer.
The police department confirmed Johnson “made threats against Joe Rogan on his Instagram profile.”
According to APD, “detectives contacted Mr. Rogan, who stated he had never had any interaction with Johnson and considered the posts to be threatening.”
Police located Johnson at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Austin around 6 p.m. Tuesday and took him into custody. An additional Instagram video posted around 7:30 p.m. shows who appears to be Johnson wearing a burgundy hoody and pants handcuffed, getting into a police vehicle.
Despite Rogan’s statement to police, a Hollywood Reporter article states that the two have a history after Rogan “mocked” Johnson during a segment on Rogan’s podcast, “The Joe Rogan Experience.”
The entertainment news outlet reports that Rogan rejected Johnson’s claim that his muscle-bound physique was natural, calling the assertion “preposterous.”
The so-called Liver King rose to viral fame with social media posts depicting a barbarian-like “ancestral lifestyle,” including the consumption of raw animal organs, as depicted in the recent Netflix documentary “Untold: The Liver King.”
His persona and the story behind the physique fell apart in December 2022, however, when he admitted in a YouTube video to using steroids.
Attorney information was not immediately listed for Johnson.
Erica Pauda contributed to this report.