Netflix documentary exploring viral Liver King influencer is labeled ‘Tiger King meets salmonella’
Brian Johnson's raw meat eating earned him fame
A new Netflix documentary charting the rise and fall of the so-called Liver King is set to release.
Critics' verdicts are in - and they've hilariously labeled the show as 'Tiger King meets salmonella.'
The documentary follows fitness influencer Brian Johnson - no, not that Bryan Johnson - who gained popularity for videos of his 'all-natural' ancestral lifestyle - basically, him eating raw meat.
He started uploading to social media in 2016 and rapidly gained attention as he shared videos of himself chowing down on raw unprocessed organs, animal testicles and his 'daily intake' of liver, hence his nickname.
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Johnson managed to build up a $100 million empire off the back of his fame, flogging his very own supplement brand - not everyone can devour raw meat, after all!
The 48-year-old might have the muscle and grit to back up his unusual diet, but is everything as it seems?
That's exactly what Netflix's Untold: The Liver King delves into.
Featuring interviews with the man himself, his family and his business partners, the documentary unpicks Johnson's wild rise to fame and the controversy that came soon after.
In 2022, Johnson's world came crashing down when it was revealed he was telling a pretty major lie.
He'd credited his whole identity - and jacked body - down to his raw meat diet and living by nine ancestral 'tenants': to eat, sleep, move, shine, connect, cold, sun, fight and bond.
Yet, over the years, Johnson was accused of taking steroids - which he vehemently denied.
On Mark Bell’s Power Project Podcast, he addressed allegations and declared: “I don’t touch the stuff. I’ve never done the stuff. I’m not going to do the stuff.”
Yet, a 2023 YouTube video saw him finally crack and admit to taking 120mg of testosterone a week.
Before his confession, YouTuber More Plates More Dates had released an hour-long exposé about Johnson's steroid use.
It included a leaked email that saw Johnson ask a nutritionist for additional steroids and included blood test results that confirmed his usage.
The habit reportedly cost him $12,000 a month.
Anyway, for The Guardian, Rhik Samadder described the documentary as 'so funny,' particularly because of its amusing catchphrases.
"'Why eat vegetables when you can eat testicles?' is his mantra. He describes his first orgasm, a spontaneous ejaculation while bench pressing.
"We feel the film-makers’ delight in their subject, who has more quotable moments than the book of Psalms," Samadder writes, while also drawing comparisons to the new release and 2020's The Tiger King.
Dylan Blight from Explosion Network had a similar view, writing: "I’m laughing and having a good time, but whether that was the point of this or not, I do not know."
Untold: The Liver King releases on Netflix on Tuesday May 13.
Topics: Film and TV, Fitness, Health, Netflix, Food and Drink, Documentaries
Ellie Kemp