Brian Johnson — better known by his online persona “The Liver King” — has been arrested and charged with allegedly making a terroristic threat towards UFC color commentator Joe Rogan.
Austin Police confirmed the arrest to MMA Fighting on Wednesday after Johnson made a series of bizarre and meandering videos on social media where he challenged Rogan to a fight. He actually went as far as flying into Austin where Rogan resides while continuing the challenge the podcaster and comedian.
“On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, at approximately 9:30 a.m., Austin Police Department (APD) detectives were notified that a subject identified as Brian Johnson, known online as “Liver King”, had made threats against Joe Rogan on his Instagram profile,” Austin Police told MMA Fighting in a statement. “Detectives reviewed the posts and observed that Johnson was traveling to Austin while continuing to make threatening statements. 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.
“Later that day, at approximately 5:59 p.m., APD officers located Johnson at the Four Seasons Hotel located at 98 San Jacinto Boulevard and took him into custody without incident. He was transported to the Travis County Jail and charged with Terroristic Threat, a Class B misdemeanor. This remains an active investigation, and there is no further information is available at this time.”
Johnson actually posted videos on his Instagram account after he was arrested and taken into custody by police for making the threats against Rogan.
Prior to flying to Austin, Johnson made separate posts challenging Rogan to a fight while instructing whoever runs his social media accounts to “record anything and everything” as he continued to go on strange rants.
“Joe Rogan, we don’t have to make videos to pretend anymore,” Johnson said in one video. “All of this is happening, we’re coming to you. I’ve challenged you man-to-man to a fight. Honorable. We don’t have to pretend or make any videos. The world is watching, they’ll make the videos for us. You don’t have to hold the camera. You can hold the hand of somebody that you love because what happens next to you, you’re going to need to remember that feeling.”
Johnson first came to fame as an online influencer preaching “nine ancestral tenets” regarding his lifestyle where he routinely eats raw meats while offering advice about his dietary intake.
After denying for years that he never used any performance enhancing drugs to maintain his physique, Johnson admitted to using steroids in 2022 after emails were leaked that showed him spending as much as $11,000 per month on anabolic steroids and other drugs.
If convicted, Johnson faces up to 180 days in jail and up to a $2,000 fine.
