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American artist and actor David Choe has faced severe backlash online after a controversial video clip from his past resurfaced. The actor has been heaping praise for appearing as Isaac in Netflix's recently released dark comedy series, Beef.
On April 13, journalist Aura Bogado took to her Twitter handle to share a video of the 46-year-old personality, where he made some eyebrow-raising comments about a past experience with a masseuse.
The viral clip is from an episode of Choe's now-shutdown podcast DVDASA from 2014, from an episode named Erection Quest.
In one of its segments, Choe shares a story about an encounter with a massage therapist, where he touched her without her consent and forced her to perform oral s*x on him. He also admitted to becoming aroused just by sharing the story. David Choe said in the clip:
“The thrill of possibly going to jail, you know, that’s what achieved the erection quest."
In response to this, his co-host, adult actress Asa Akira, said:
“Ew, you’re basically telling us that you’re a r*pist now."
As per NBC News, Choe also said during the podcast episode:
“So I go back to the chill method of: You never ask first, you just do it, get in trouble and then pay the price later.”
Twitter is not happy with David Choe's resurfaced video
After David Choe's video describing his alleged past experience with a massage therapist resurfaced, Twitterati was furious and demanded that he get canceled. Several users vowed to boycott Beef on Netflix and slammed the actor for admitting to his "beyond disturbing" encounter in the past.
Others bashed Netflix for choosing him as a cast member on Beef and suggested that the streaming giant already knew about his past but still went ahead to choose him.
David Choe previously apologized for his podcast episode
At the time, David Choe's controversial comments garnered severe criticism from multiple organizations and activists like the Center for the Pacific Asian Family, the South Asian Helpline and Referral Agency, and Advancing Justice — LA. They released a joint statement, reading:
“Choe’s story reflects the harsh reality that men and women alike continue to believe and perpetuate the dangerous myth that coerced s*xual activity is not considered assault or r*pe. By legal definition, you are committing an act of s*xual assault when you do not receive consent. Based on Choe’s telling, the masseuse’s repeated protests, in addition to his physical coercion, indicate that she was not consenting to the acts he requested.”
After facing backlash for his comments, Choe issued an apology in 2014, stating that the story was made up and a "complete extension of my art.” On his now-defunct podcast's website, he wrote:
“I never thought I’d wake up one late afternoon and hear myself called a r*pist. It sucks. Especially because I am not one. I am not a r*pist. I hate r*pists. We create stories and tell tales … It’s my version of reality, it’s art that sometimes offends people. I’m sorry if anyone believed that the stories were fact. They were not!”
The incident was again brought up in 2017 after a Bowery Mural painted by David Choe was vandalized by the graffiti gang Big Time Mafia, who sprayed their signature letters "BTM" on the mural. One of the messages tagged on it was the word "r*pist."
Moreover, David Chloe's mural was posted on the website of an anti-r*pist protest and was titled "No means no."
In June 2017, Choe issued a statement on Instagram again apologizing for the controversial podcast episode and wrote:
“In a 2014 episode of ['DVDASA,'] I relayed a story simply for shock value that made it seem as if I had s*xually violated a woman. Though I said those words, I did not commit those actions. It did not happen. I am deeply sorry for any hurt I’ve brought to anyone through my past words. Non-consensual s*x is r*pe and it is never funny or appropriate to joke about.”
As of writing, neither David Choe nor the other cast members of Beef have responded to the backlash received on Twitter.
