Joe Rogan told cops Liver King appears ‘unstable,' and heard influencer had a ‘significant drug issue'

New York Post

3 days ago

Joe Rogan told police that he believed the 'Liver King' was 'significantly unstable' before he was arrested for his unhinged threats toward the podcaster on social media.
The Austin Police Department detectives said they were notified about the fitness influencer — whose real name is Brian Johnson — and his string of Instagram videos around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, in which he repeatedly went on rants about wanting to fight Rogan, police told The Post.
Detectives then saw that Johnson, 47, traveled to Austin — the city Rogan has lived in since leaving California in 2020 — where he continued to make threatening posts against the UFC commentator.
5 Joe Rogan told police he believed the 'Liver King' was 'unstable' after they reached out to him about the fitness influencer's online threats.
Joe Rogan Experience/Youtube
Law enforcement then reached out to Rogan, who 'stated he had never had any interaction with Johnson and considered the posts to be threatening.'
Rogan, 57, told police that he was unaware that the influencer was 'targeting him' and had been told by other people that Johnson 'has a significant drug issue,' according to legal documents obtained by TMZ.
The former 'Fear Factor' host also said that Johnson 'appears to be significantly unstable and seems like he needs help.'
Cops then busted the 'Liver King' at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday after discovering he had checked into the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, officials told The Post.
Johnson — who was forced to admit in 2022 that his ripped physique was really due to spending $11,000 a month on steroids — was then booked into the Travis County Jail and charged with Terroristic Threat, a Class B misdemeanor.
5 Detectives saw that Johnson, 47, traveled to Austin — the city Rogan has lived in since leaving California in 2020 — where he continued to make threatening posts against the UFC commentator.
Instagram/@liverking
5 Cops busted the 'Liver King' at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday after discovering he had checked into the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin.
Instagram/@liverking
The YouTuber had a disheveled appearance in his mugshot, staring dead into the camera with very little emotion behind his eyes, which were dragged down by hefty bags.
Johnson was released on a $20,000 bond and was ordered to have no contact with Rogan or his family, to take a mental health evaluation within a week of his release, and not be in possession of firearms, online records show.
'The Joe Rogan Experience' doesn't feature an episode with Johnson as a guest, but he has come up multiple times before on the show when the discussion centers around bodybuilding and performance-enhancing drugs.
The influencer started his unhinged, shirtless rants against Rogan on Monday, challenging him to an 'honorable' fight while wearing a fur headdress and holding what appears to be a gun in each hand.
'Joe Rogan, I'm calling you out, my name's Liver King. Man to man, I'm picking a fight with you,' he said, while sporting the wolf pelt.
'I have no training in jiu-jitsu, you're a black belt, you should dismantle me. But I'm picking a fight with you. Your rules, I'll come to you, whenever you're ready.'
5 Johnson had a disheveled appearance in his mugshot, staring dead into the camera with very little emotion behind his eyes, which were dragged down by hefty bags.
Austin Police Department
5 Rogan has not publicly commented on Johnson's arrest.
Getty Images
He again challenged the podcaster to fight him 'man to man' while proclaiming he has a 'family to fight for' in a video posted the same day.
'You never come across something like this, willing to die, hoping that you'll choke me out because that's a dream come true,' Johnson said in his rant.
Johnson, who has more than 10 million followers, continued rants in footage posted to his Instagram Tuesday til the moment he was seen being put in cuffs and taken away by police.
Following his release, Johnson addressed his arrest while only referring to Rogan as 'some guy,' but directly refers to the podcaster's comedy club, 'Mothership,' by name in a nonsensical video on Wednesday.
Rogan has not publicly commented on Johnson's arrest or incessant invites to fight.