Tech mogul-turned-longevity fanatic Bryan Johnson proudly declared that he “loves” haters of his super-strict, anti-aging regimen — amongst them Elon Musk, who said that Johnson looked higher before starting the protocol.
“I really like the haters,” Johnson told Fortune.
“Love them. I welcome them, I embrace them, I appreciate them spending their time to comment. They’re standing up, they’re speaking up, they’re not apathetic. I really like every thing about them, I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Musk has been amongst Johnson’s critics, suggesting in December that Johnson looked higher during his Silicon Valley days than he does now after spending tens of millions on thwarting Father Time.
Johnson’s each day routine features a 5 a.m. wakeup time, a one-hour exercise regimen, 4 to 5 hours of “concentrated thought,” and taking 111 supplements.
He follows a 2,250-calorie vegan weight loss plan, blood transfusions, and each day health tests, in addition to a rigid bedtime routine where he’s attached to a machine that counts his nighttime erections.
A user by the name of Matt Paulson said at the time his “unpopular opinion of the day is that Bryan Johnson looked way higher before he began spending $2 million/12 months on his body.”
Musk replied to Paulson’s post with a “100” emoji, indicating he agreed with the sentiment.
After branding his lifestyle under the brand “don’t die,” and since Johnson began touting that he undergoes blood plasma transfusions — including with his 17-year-old son — social media users have quipped that the 46-year-old centi-millionaire is a vampire.
Johnson told Fortune that he finds a few of the criticism “funny.”
At the end of the day, “we’re all struggling,” Johnson said, though he added he’s “struggling lower than I ever have in my entire life.”
Though Johnson didn’t elaborate during the interview with Fortune, he told an audience at RAADfest 2023 — the Revolution Against Aging and Death conference — in September that he was chronically depressed and would wolf down trays of brownies in an effort to feel higher.
Johnson nicknamed this nighttime-snacking version of himself “Evening Bryan,” which he said routinely made an appearance at 7 p.m. nightly throughout his 30s when Johnson was working on constructing the mobile payment startup Braintree, which was purchased by eBay in an $800 million money deal in 2013.
“I used to be struggling pretty significantly before—but I’m deeply empathetic to people and I appreciate them showing up. I mean they’re engaging with me, they’re offering me their perspectives and I find it irresistible,” added of the haters, in line with Fortune.
But, “they wish to say that I’m not living life and that I have to be in a cage of misery built on myself. I don’t learn about that,” he added.
“I check with many individuals in the world [and] I’m undecided that many individuals are thriving with their very own mental health and wellness.”
Johnson has said that although his strict each day regimen makes it difficult for him to be in a relationship, he enjoys being the “most measured man” — a lot in order that he launched his much-touted Project Blueprint for those willing to pay $333-a-month to mimic his extreme routine.
The strict weight loss plan provides participants with “67 interventions” in products that include a 6-ounce Longevity drink mix, eight supplements, Johnson’s signature Nutty Pudding Mix, and additional virgin olive oil.
In all, the “stack” of products comprises 410 calories.
The products — including the $99 ready-to-mix mix of nuts, seeds, and berries to make Nutty Pudding at home, the dessert Johnson claims to eat each day — are also available on Project Blueprint’s website, though they’re still labeled “coming 2024.”
Aspiring participants applied to check out the 90-day routine as a part of Johnson’s “self-experimentation study” for a minimum application fee of $999.
Johnson then chosen 2,500 participants, who began the study earlier this month.