Brian Johnson — better known by his nickname “Liver King” — had charges against him dismissed on Thursday after he was arrested in June for making threats against UFC color commentator and podcast guru
Joe Rogan.
A representative from the Travis County criminal court confirmed to MMA Fighting that the charges against Johnson were dismissed.
Johnson was initially arrested after he made a series of bizarre and meandering videos on social media where he said he was challenging Rogan to a fight. He actually made the trip to Austin, Texas, where Rogan resides, while posting videos about his plans to fight the comedian and podcast host.
Police were initially contacted by a member of Rogan’s security team after he was made aware of several social media posts made by Johnson. The videos escalated from “numerous threats” to actually posting videos “documenting that [he] had traveled to Austin and was currently in town to fight Joe Rogan.”
Rogan’s security team asked police to intervene due to the escalating nature of Johnson’s behavior before he could potentially cause “any harm to Joe Rogan or his family.”
Police stated in the criminal complaint that after viewing a number of Johnson’s videos, authorities believed that his behavior exhibited signs of “some sort of mental health episode, indicating that Brian Johnson could be a danger to himself or others.”
Police eventually contacted Rogan, who told authorities he was initially made aware of Johnson’s threats by his security team, and he interpreted the actions and statements “as threatening,” which resulted in him filing a police report.
Rogan told police he never had any contact with Johnson so he was unaware why the social media influencer was suddenly targeting him.
Johnson was eventually arrested and hit with a misdemeanor charge for making a terroristic threat before being released on a $20,000 bond along with a restraining order stating he had to stay at least 200 feet away from Rogan and his family as well as Rogan’s home and businesses.
Originally, Johnson’s attorney was scheduled to appear in court on his behalf on Thursday, but online court records eventually reflected the charges were dismissed in the case.
