Who is Taryn Southern? Biotech tycoon Bryan Johnson famous for reverse ageing dumped ex-fiancee after she was diagnosed with cancer
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: The ex-fiancee of biotech tycoon Bryan Johnson, who made the headlines after his efforts to reverse the ageing process were revealed, has alleged that he was "manipulative" and "controlling" during their three-year-long relationship. She accused him of dumping her after she was diagnosed with cancer. The ex, Taryn Southern, said Johnson urged her to tell him about her past lovers and what sex acts they performed, she said in a lawsuit.
"Defendant Johnson pushed Ms. Southern to share a full list of her past sexual partners with him and describe the sexual acts that took place," the suit says, according to the Daily Mail. Southern said in court papers filed in Los Angeles that Johnson received her "intellectual and professional" services for his projects and ventures after assuring her he would support her financially and medically for the "rest of her life." Johnson also allegedly placed her in an expensive wellness program. Johnson reportedly spends $2 million a year to reverse the ageing process of his body with various techniques.
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Southern, 37, alleged that the 45-year-old kicked her out of their Los Angeles home after she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2019. He then went back on his $149,000 separation agreement. He allegedly told her that she must move out as she had become "a bad deal" and "net negative," due to her illness and the treatment that came with it.
Who is Taryn Southern?
Taryn Southern, originally from Kansas, is reportedly an artist, storyteller, and strategist. According to her website, her work "explores the intersection of emerging technology and human potential."
"Taryn’s first foray into entertainment began at 17 when she competed in the semi-finals of American Idol. In 2007, after obtaining degrees in journalism and anthropology, Taryn uploaded her first video onto YouTube," it says. "Ten years and 750 million views later, this early YouTuber produced more than 1500 internet videos, sold series to networks like MTV, DirecTV and Maker Studios, acted in sitcoms on FOX, CBS, NBC, ABC, and Comedy Central, hosted shows for Discovery Channel, Vh1, G4, and Facebook, and produced digital campaigns for companies like Marriott, Today Show, Snapchat, and ATTN."
Southern often writes about her cancer treatment on Instagram. In one of these posts, she posted a video of herself getting a haircut, writing, "One of the most traumatic parts of chemo for female patients is losing hair. One of the drugs I was on, taxotere, can cause permanent hair loss in a small percentage of patients, which terrified me. So I chose to use frozen cold caps during treatment, in hopes I could preserve some of my hair follicles. I still lost about 50% of the hair on my scalp, but the cold caps enabled me to save just enough hair to feel like myself through the process."
What does the lawsuit say?
According to the lawsuit, Johnson had a "pattern of manipulative and coercive." He allegedly even persuaded her to let him sleep with other women despite the fact that she preferred monogamy. Johnson allegedly had sex with at least a dozen other women, including prostitutes, during their relationship. Southern said he became "obsessed with his sexual conquests." He allegedly "aggressively" pursued her friends and found other women on 'Sugar Daddy' apps. Southern accused him of forcing her to sign a settlement agreement that deprived her of $149,000, which he said he would let her use to help her settle in a new home and manage medical treatment.
"When he met Ms. Southern, he saw an intelligent, attractive, skillful, young woman who had the means to find an audience for his ideas and increase his media exposure and popularity," the lawsuit says. "He immediately swept Ms. Southern off her feet, expressing apparent sincerity in his desire to become lifelong partners. They moved in together within four months of meeting and, by March 2018, the 'happy' couple were engaged to be married."
"Although Ms. Southern had initial misgivings about working for Defendant Johnson, she genuinely believed that he loved her and that he intended to keep his promises," it continued. "As a result, and in reliance on Defendant Johnson's repeated assurances, Ms. Southern made decisions that hurt her own career and left her financially dependent on Defendant Johnson."
In October 2019, Johnson asked her to move out of their home while she was actively undergoing treatment for Stage III breast cancer. According to the suit, "She had no independent source of steady income to support her living and medical expense." Southern said Johnson "took advantage of (her) weakened and vulnerable state" and "leveraged his power and financial control" over her to force her. He allegedly wanted her to give up her rights over financial security in his startup, Kernel, which she helped to "grow."
"When Ms. Southern pushed back, Defendant Johnson resorted to threats, coercion and manipulation to get her to submit to his demands," the lawsuit alleged. "Ms. Southern had endured Defendant Johnson's pattern of manipulative and coercive behavior throughout their relationship; however, once in cancer treatment, when aggressive treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, antibody infusions, and targeted therapies left her emotionally and physically vulnerable, Defendant Johnson saw his opportunity to force Ms. Southern under an intense and targeted campaign of physical, emotional, and financial distress to execute an agreement that purported to silence Ms. Southern and curtail her entitlement to financial support, and payment of outstanding debts and equity in Kernel."
"The law does not condone such outrageous conduct, and Ms. Southern brings this action to remedy the substantial harm Defendant Johnson has caused," her lawyers added.
The lawsuit details a time when the pair moved in together to a rented $2.8 million property in Venice, California. At the time, Southern's career took a "back seat" as there was "no room" for it while living with Johnson. "Not only did she have to work around the clock to meet Defendant Johnson's mounting needs, both personally and professionally, he also pressed Ms. Southern to turn down outside work opportunities and social engagements that he deemed too small, distracting or not aligned with his mission," the suit says. "This included pushing her to remove dozens of her most popular monetized YouTube videos, allegedly because they were not aligned with his public image."
Eventually, after Southern was diagnosed with cancer, Johnson allegedly became "notably more absent from the home and increasingly emotionally distant," before telling her he wanted to split. "Ms. Southern's own family and friends were stunned by Defendant Johnson's seeming disengagement in his fiancée's emotional well-being during such a critical time," the lawsuit says.
Johnson allegedly told her to move out as it would be "very inconvenient" for him to do the same. "Whatever inconvenience Defendant Johnson faced paled in comparison to the pressures and stress Ms. Southern was going to face in having to search for a place to live and move while recovering from chemotherapy, navigating the unknowns of her diagnosis, and preparing for surgery and radiation at the end of October," the complaint states.
The lawsuit says, "Indeed, what Ms. Southern now realizes is Defendant Johnson had been working since the start of the relationship to exert dominion and control over her personal life and financial independence, and to emotionally push her to the limit and submit her to his every whim."
"In one early example, Defendant Johnson pushed Ms. Southern to share a full list of her past sexual partners with him and describe the sexual acts that took place," it added. "During this demeaning and humiliating exchange, Defendant Johnson told Ms. Southern that he was concerned about suffering any reputational risk as a result of her having been with or dated other men, in spite of the fact that Defendant Johnson had been dating – and sleeping with – a myriad of women after his divorce and before meeting her."
About the pair's split, the lawsuit says, "Rather than bargaining with Ms. Southern fairly after the breakup, Defendant Johnson directed his legal resources to overwhelm, threaten, and terrify her; and his businesses to terminate her work and cut off her income, including her pay for work already completed. He even instructed his law firm to fire her so that she would be without legal representation, so that he could more effectively pressure her to sign off on her rights." At present, the lawsuit is set for a status conference in May before a judge in Los Angeles.