“Liver King” Brian Johnson tricked customers into buying his supplements by claiming he attained his ripped physique with a raw liver diet – when in fact he was using steroids, a new $25 million class-action lawsuit charges.
The fitness influencer earlier this month admitted that his muscular bod was achieved through a pricey expensive steroid regimen rather than the primal lifestyle he peddles.
Now, New Yorker Christopher Altomare has filed suit against the bodybuilder and his companies –Ancestral Supplements, LLC and The Fittest Ever, LLC — for allegedly conning consumers into buying his products.
Johnson hawked his Nine Ancestral Tenets lifestyle — including the Eat Tenet promoting a eating raw liver and testicles — by “consistently” appearing shirtless to “showcase his muscular physique” and portraying “himself as the epitome of health,” according to the Manhattan Supreme Court lawsuit.
In reality, his brand included “a dangerous and life-threatening diet” which caused “a large portion of consumers” to suffer from “severe” food borne illnesses, the suit filed Wednesday claims.
And the diet – pushing liver, spleen, pancreas, heart, kidney, raw bull testicles and raw sweetbreads– was unsustainable for consumers to stick with, forcing them to buy Johnson’s supplements, according to the suit.
“Liver King persuaded millions of consumers to adhere to, or abide by, the Eat Tenet by repeatedly making representations to consumers that his near-perfect physique, and optimal health, were solely attributable to his adoption of the Ancestral Tenets, predominantly the Eat Tenet,” the suit charges.
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Johnson – who started posting on Instagram in August 2021 and has since amassed over 1.7 million followers – has sworn by his rigorous workouts and “modern caveman” diet as the secret to his jacked body.
He had previously denied using performance enhancing drugs.
But in late November, a fitness journalist posted a YouTube video revealing emails that Johnson exchanged with another bodybuilder in which he admitted he was taking $11,000 worth of steroids a month.
In response, Johnson apologized in a Dec. 1 video for the lie, admitting: “Yes, I’ve done steroids. And yes, I’m on steroids.”
Altomare said in the suit that he bought into Johnson’s “cult-like” brand and purchased his products after being drawn by the influencer’s “deceptive consumer-oriented conduct, including … [his] misrepresentations and omissions.”
He and other consumers would have continued to buy Johnson’s products, “had not defendant Liver King’s steroid use been revealed,” the filing claims.
Johnson and his companies didn’t immediately return requests for comment.
