by Christian Duque
All right folks, the beef between Brian Johnson (aka “Liver King”) and Joe Rogan is as real as it gets. There’s still a lot of people that think that what happens on the Internet is just for shits and giggles, that it isn’t serious, and/or that it’s simply an alternate reality where anything goes. Many people still subscribe to the viewpoint that the internet is a place where you can say anything, about anyone, at any time – and it’s all just good fun.
And that’s just now how the real world works. You can’t make threats and you can’t act on those threats. You also can’t use the internet to communicate threats. For example, if you threaten to hurt somebody but you have little or no chance to do it, you might be facing one type of charge. But if you threaten somebody and there’s an imminence requirement that’s met, then you could be facing a whole other group of charges. And what do I mean by imminency? Imminency is the fact that it can happen or is likely to happen.
If you say that you’re going to throw down with somebody but they’re 3,000 miles away and you have no way of getting to them, that’s still actionable but how are you going to reach them that far away? Chances are you’re just blowing off steam. If you curse someone out while on the road, you’re just blowing off steam. If you say something in someone’s face or from close striking distance, now you’re also in another area of potential crimes.
So when Liver King made threats against Joe Rogan that was one thing, but when he started traveling towards Joe Rogan’s home state, then to his home city, now that made LK a lot more of a threat. That’s not to say that Rogan can’t defend himself, but that’s not the point. Johnson shouldn’t be in a position to be close enough to Rogan for Rogan to have to thwart the attack. Johnson has suffered a tremendous blow to his social media stardom and has been acting irrationally online for quite some time insofar as this imagined rivalry. For there to be a rivalry, both actors have to be actively engaged. Liver King is not on Rogan’s radar. And even if there rivalry were such a rivalry, it doesn’t give either participant license to trek to their place of residence to challenge them to a fight. This is not life works. At least not life in a civilized society governed by laws. Brian Johnson needs a reality check. And I believe he’s getting one.
Now what I gather from watching all the videos and reading all the articles it’s LK perhaps was a little obsessed with Joe Rogan. He wanted to get on his podcast and he wanted to tell a story, which I’m sure Johnson thinks is very compelling and one that would get Joe a lot of hits. That’s a big part of the disconnect at play. Joe Rogan is the most popular podcaster in the world, he signed a $100 million deal with Google, and has far bigger fish to fry than chasing an exposed fitness industry conman. I think that LK has more than abundantly made it clear that he wants to come on the podcast and if Joe or Joe’s people have not made overtures to make that happen, then is SOL. You win some, you lose some.
For most celebrities that would be enough. If a podcast doesn’t want to work with them, then they look for other podcasts and shows to appear on. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Now of course, The Joe Rogan Podcast is the king of all podcasts and I understand Johnson wanting to be on that best of the best, but that was just not going to happen. Tracking Rogan down, getting past his security, and then challenging him to a fight or yell in his face was not going to make that happen. And giving his fanbase a play-by-play of his journey to making this happen should have sounded alarm bells, everywhere. And that’s exactly what it did. LK got arrested, spent the night in jail, and walked out of detention with a restraining order waiting for him outside. Sadly, he’s violated the order even though he avoided cue words. At this rate, Rogan will most definitely get the order and if Johnson didn’t have a criminal record, he has one now. And for what? Again folks, it’s not just the internet. It’s not just for social media. LK has lost it all and wants it back.
And therein lies the problem. Once you go all the way to the top in the fitness industry and then you’re outed as a fraud, you lose it quickly. You might lose it gradually or you might lose it over night. but the reality of the matter is that the LK is no longer considered to be credible. His diet was a sham, his claiming natty was a lie, and his silly documentary didn’t turn things around. The fact of the matter is LK’s stock has been consistently plummeting for quite some time and nothing is going to change that. It’s like rearranging the deck chairs on The Titanic.
Perhaps in his mind, Johnson figured that if he could fight Joe Rogan or get on Joe Rogan’s podcast and that that would turn his luck around. Even if he had been on Rogan’s podcast, Rogan is a mainstream act. Johnson is part of the fitness industry. What LK did in the small niche of the bodybuilding world would never have worked in the mainstream. I don’t want to say that people in the fitness segment aren’t as smart as people in the mainstream sector, but they tend to be a lot more gullible. No one in everyday America would ever have believed the story that Johnson was natural and/or that he got that size and definition by eating raw meat. So if getting back into the good graces of the bodybuilding world was his goal, the Joe Rogan Podcast would not have been the vehicle to make that happen. Now, Johnson has a criminal record and instead of merely being a laughing stock in the relatively small fitness world, he is now a laughing stock in the mainstream as well.
What I see when I look at Liver King is a defeated man. I see someone who is no longer living his best life, someone who maybe feels like he let down a lot of people. And the reality of the matter is he did. He shot to the top of the fitness industry by telling lies, deceiving his fans, and denying the use of anabolic steroids. Everything about this individual was based on deception. When the light shined and people saw Johnson for what he was, they ran away. Nobody is saying they’re fans of his today. This makes LK very dangerous. He’s acting irrational and he’s putting it all on social media. That’s a dangerous mix. No one is trying to reason with him. If anything, they might be egging him on. At this point, I’d argue that a lion’s share of Johnson’s fans are trolls.
I’d also argue that due to the fact that LK sees this interaction with Rogan as critical to his returning to stardom, that that makes him more dangerous than the average celebrity stalker trying to jump a celeb’s fence, hide in the bushes, or climb up a tree. Most celebrity stalkers want an interaction. That could be a handshake, an autograph, maybe they want to simply chit chat with them. Most of these people are happy with just about anything. Their needs vary and while they can be some real oddballs, I’d imagine the number of folks who want to harm the celebs would be few and far between. If there’s anything that’s clear with this situation, it’s that Johnson wasn’t seeking Rogan out for anything on the friendly level. Even after his night in jail and being served with a restraining order, Johnson continues to be hostile towards Rogan and seems just as eager to make contact with him as ever.
There’s still time for LK to save himself and STOP with this obsession. I don’t believe that’s outside of his control. I don’t think he’s lost just yet, but his hunger for hits is very concerning. That’s just my take. As always, I like to conclude these articles asking you, the loyal readers of IronMag, what your take is. I appreciate you reading my articles and I look forward to reading your feedback in the comments. Be sure to copy and paste a link to this story on all your social media feeds. It’ll drum up some lively conversation. You can bet on it!
