Brian Johnson, better known as the Liver King, built a commercial empire by eating raw liver and preaching the supposed power of “ancestral living”. He claimed his extreme physique was the result of consuming raw meat, including organs, lifting weights and avoiding modern toxins like ultraprocessed foods. But as a new Netflix documentary, Untold: The Liver King released earlier this month, confirms the real secret behind his shredded body wasn’t testicle tartare, as he claimed, instead it was massive amounts of human growth hormone.
The documentary follows an increasingly familiar story, like scam influencer Belle Gibson in another Netflix hit, Apple Cider Vinegar. A wellness influencer seeks solutions to health issues – in Johnson’s case his sons were struggling with illness and allergies – and takes their new-found knowledge to social media. Pretty soon the desire to draw attention and profit trumps any kind of ethical responsibility and the grift booms before it begins to unravel.
