Anti-ageing activist Bryan Johnson sparks controversy with picture of his face

‘I’m transitioning,’ wrote millionaire who is trying to live forever

Anti-ageing activist Bryan Johnson has sparked yet more controversy after he shared an image of his face.

Joking that even his iPhone was confused about who he was, Mr Johnson shared a series of pictures of himself taken over recent years.

But – as with many of Mr Johnson’s pronouncements – the seemingly straightforward post unleashed a torrent of responses. “What generates stronger opinions: my face or abortion?” he wrote in a follow-up tweet.

Many of the responses suggested that Mr Johnson had looked “better” in the earlier version of his post, before his mission to live forever had begun. “Tries to stop aging…. Proceeds to age quicker,” one typical response read.

Many of the comments suggested that Mr Johnson now looked older than his 45 years, or said that he looked more friendly in 2018. He appeared to encourage those criticism with a poll inviting people to vote on which of he pictures was better.

Mr Johnson has become famous recently as perhaps the best known representative of the movement towards anti-ageing and the avoidance of death that has become a focus of some parts of Silicon Valley.

Reports suggest that he spends $2 million each year on trying to reverse the ageing process and avoid death. That includes a strict regime of physical activity, nutrition and more, much of which is outsourced to a team of experts and computer programs.

As he has spoken publicly about that process, Mr Johnson has courted controversy and often argued with his critics on X, formerly known as Twitter. Critics regularly attack his plans in often violent language – but he has said that he has lost interest in those criticisms.

“The troll inside my head is much more vicious than the trolls I get online,” he told The Guardian last year.. “When I was depressed and my brain would constantly say to me, ‘Life is hopeless,’ I had to basically say, ‘I don’t care what you’re going to say.’

“And ultimately, it lost its power. And I’ve seen that happen as people troll me and I play with them. Like, it’s honestly not even interesting any more.”