Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and co-executive producers Ali Wong and Steven Yeun have finally responded to the growing controversy surrounding co-star David Choe a week after Choe’s story of committing sexual assault resurfaced and went viral online.
So far, the only response from any of the parties involved appears to be copyright claims from Choe’s foundation requesting that clips of the podcast episode be removed from social media. But Lee, Wong and Yeun issued a statement on Friday, first released to Vanity purse:
“The story David Choe concocted nine years ago is undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing. We do not condone this story in any way and we understand why this has been so disturbing and triggering. We are aware that David has apologized in the past for making up this horrific story, and we have seen him put in the work to get the mental health care he needed to better himself and learn from his mistakes .”
In 2014, Choe told a story on his now-defunct DVDASA podcast describing how he forced a masseuse to perform oral sex on him. He alternately referred to himself as a “successful rapist” and admitted his actions were “rape behavior” while denying being a rapist. The story briefly went viral at the time, and Choe, then best known as a successful street artist, claimed he made the story up “as a complete extension of my art.”
Last Wednesday, journalist Aura Bogado the incident resurfaced amid glowing press for the new Netflix series, and the story has since gained traction with a much wider audience, with repeated calls to Lee, Wong and Yeun – as well as Netflix and production company A24 – to clarify whether she knew about Choe’s previous comments and explained why he was involved in the project. The artist, who plays a major supporting role in the series, is friends with both Wong and Yeun and was invited by Lee to take on the role, in addition to providing art for the show’s 10-episode title credits.
