Fitness influencer who spoke about steroid use reportedly dies of a heart attack at 30

Australian fitness influencer Jaxon Tippet, who built a sizable following with online content focused on exercise and personal motivation while also candidly discussing his past addiction to steroids, reportedly died Sunday in Turkey. He was 30.

Tippet’s death was announced Tuesday on his Instagram page, where he had 229,000 followers, and reported by multiple media outlets Wednesday, including Sky News Australia and Men’s Health. NBC News has not confirmed his death.

Logan Thorpe, a fitness content creator and coach who described himself as someone who worked with Tippet’s fitness business, said Tippet’s body was discovered in his Turkish hotel room. He had suffered a heart attack, according to an Instagram story Thorpe posted to Tippet’s page.

It was not immediately clear if steroids played a role in his death. Turkish authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Requests for comment sent to family members were not immediately returned.

When reached for comment via Instagram, Thorpe directed NBC News to a post on Tippet’s page announcing his death.

“He was such a beautiful soul and had such a positive impact on the world,” the Instagram post reads. The post also asked for donations to a GoFundMe to help bring Tippet’s body home to Australia from Turkey.

Tippet was one of many fitness influencers who have in recent years openly discussed the use of steroids, which build muscle but come with a bevy of health risks.

Use of anabolic steroids has long been a taboo topic in the fitness world, and entire subgenres of YouTube, TikTok and Reddit posts exist simply to attempt to discern if a fitness influencer is “natty or not” — “natty” being short for “natural” and “not” referring to someone who uses steroids. Fitness content creators and the bodybuilding community have debated whether steroid use should be disclosed. Those seeking to disclose it have said they hope to show the pros and cons of taking steroids.

Tippet began speaking openly about his steroid use in 2022, saying that he used steroids for five years but had stopped.

Tippet appeared on the “Good Humans” podcast, where he discussed his struggle with steroid addiction. He said for the first two years that he felt invigorated while taking steroids but later explained how his health had suffered. He also said he almost went to jail in 2017 when he was pulled over with steroid tablets and vials of testosterone. He later paid a $4,000 fine to avoid jail time.

“You get leaner, and, I shouldn’t say this, but you can get away with a lot more food. You can get away with a lot more and get double the results so you just get hooked, man,” he explained on the podcast.

When asked about the downside he replied, “Everything.” He went on to say his mental health deteriorated, his relationship with his family and girlfriend suffered, and he lost hair as well as his libido.

Tippet said that after he was pulled over by police with steroids on him he was sure he would end up in jail. He described going to court and narrowly avoiding incarceration. Although punishment varies by region, steroids are illegal throughout Australia. At that point, he said, he turned his life around.

“That was my sign I was meant to do something with my life. Not just be in jail, not just be this steroid addict, and that was my big change,” he said.

Tippet’s death comes just days after his 30th birthday. In an Oct. 30 Instagram post, he wrote 30 life lessons he had learned in his 30 years. No. 21 read: “Growing old beats the alternative — dying young.”

That lesson was followed by No. 22: “All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com