After David Choe’s “fabricated” rape story of a “half-Black” 14-year-old, Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong claim he “put in the work” to get better.
Source: Charley Gallay / Getty
It only took one week, dozens of articles, and thousands of disgusted social media posts for the team behind Beef to acknowledge the disturbing 2014 video of Choe.
On Friday, Jin, Yeun, and Wong finally addressed the backlash in a statement to Variety.
“The story David Choe fabricated 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 upsetting and triggering, the Beef team said.
“We’re aware David has apologized in the past for making up this horrific story, and we’ve seen him put in the work to get the mental health support he needed over the last decade to better himself and learn from his mistakes,” they continued.
How are Choe & those who cast him being held accountable?
How can we care for survivors, massage workers, Black femmes, & those who feel harmed by him/the show?
How can we as AsAms take this moment to interrogate what we’ll ignore/permit in our communities for “representation”?
— Bianca Mabute-Louie 雷天芯 (@beyonkz) April 17, 2023
To critics of Choe and those who gave him a new global platform, the latter half sounds more like denial and defense than real accountability. Former fans called out the creators for seemingly defending Choe after his story of being a “successful rapist.”
Check out Twitter dragging the Beef joint statement about David Choe after the flip.
Beef Critics And Former Fans Say Lee Sung Jin, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong’s Response Was Too Little Too Late
After a week-long wait, the vague response about David Choe disappointed former fans even more. Jin, Yeun, and Wong weren’t just defending a risky business decision but protecting a friend.
So your friend did something terrible? #YourKoreanDad pic.twitter.com/S9TB78Beh9
— Nick Cho 🥰🫰🏽 (@NickCho) April 22, 2023
Those close relationships inspired the choice to cast Choe in beef and use his art for the title cards in the first place. Supporters of Beef wondered how the team didn’t know or didn’t care about his controversial past.
People are saying Steven Yeun and Ali Wong shouldn’t have released that statement and I disagree. I’m glad they did. Because now I know exactly how they feel (about Black women), where they stand (in terms of supporting their degenerate friend David Choe), & how we arrived here.
— Clarkisha Kent (@IWriteAllDay_) April 21, 2023
This isn’t Yeun’s first time hearing that Choe used his platform to make light of the sexual assault on his platform. According to Aura Bogado, whose post about Choe drew over 10 million views, Yeun appeared on an episode of DVDASA where Choe discussed a rape fantasy.
Steven Yeun knew about David Choe’s DVDASA. He was also a guest on two episodes. In one of those episodes, Yeun is heard laughing when Choe talks about his fantasy of being tied up while his girlfriend is raped. pic.twitter.com/HpEGHSQOZB
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 22, 2023
Trigger Warning: Rape
Steven Yuen *laughed* along with David Choe when David talked about how he fantasied about someone raping his girlfriend. What in the ever living fuck? https://t.co/JyHjxk1kk9
— Athena’s Fully Vaxxed Uncool Cool Dad🇧🇼🇿🇼🇵🇸 (@claudius_jr) April 22, 2023
Ok so folx can stop with the “they didn’t know”defense. They KNEW and cast David Choe anyways. https://t.co/NwKTF7hlfx
— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) April 21, 2023
The now-viral clip comes from Choe’s former podcast DVDASA, an acronym for multiple graphic sexual references. The title says a lot about a platform where joking about violent acts like rape could be explained away as “bad storytelling” for “shock value.”
I’m absolutely revolted the appalling response and inaction we’ve seen from the people involved in this situation with David Choe.
Not a hint of a conscience or admirable working moral compass is to be found anywhere.— Carolyn Hinds 🇧🇧🗺 (@CarrieCnh12) April 21, 2023
Next semester I’ll be teaching Asian American literature. I was going to assign #BEEFNetflix. Not anymore. Those responsible for hiring David Choe did a huge disservice to the community, to survivors, to themselves. We can do better. We must!
— Dr. Seo-Young Chu (주서영) she/her (@seoyoung_chu) April 16, 2023
See how David Choe responded to the scandal after the jump.
David Choe’s Silence About The Viral Video Speaks Volumes
Source: JC Olivera / Getty
After Beef’s release,David Choe has not publicly addressed the rape story. As BOSSIP previously reported, Choe apologized “for a lifetime of wrong” and the assault story in 2017.
Welp. These people are disappointing *as fuck.*
There is no evidence that he has properly reckoned with the impact of his words. His tepid apologies read like performances. And this isn’t a mental health issue, my god. Wtf @aliwong @steveyeun https://t.co/wWed0bCPNX
— The Disordered Cosmos by Chanda Prescod-Weinstein (@IBJIYONGI) April 21, 2023
“Though I said those words, I did not commit those actions. It did not happen. I have ZERO history of sexual assault. I am deeply sorry for any hurt I’ve brought to anyone through my past words. Non-consensual sex is rape and it is never funny or appropriate to joke about,” he said.
“I was a sick person at the height of my mental illness, and have spent the last 3 years in mental health facilities healing myself and dedicating my life to helping and healing others through love and action. I do not believe in the things I have said although I take full ownership of saying them,” Choe previously wrote on Instagram.
All this time to drop a statement on Friday afternoon that they really could’ve kept. If it was really a “fabricated joke,” this statement shouldn’t have taken so long. And Choe should’ve been proud to discuss the “work” he’s allegedly put in. This ain’t it. At all. #BEEFNetflix https://t.co/vfOM3Mhrvm
— April (@ReignOfApril) April 21, 2023
In a 2021 interview about his FX series The Choe Show, he further discussed struggles with mental health, addiction, and trauma from sexual abuse. He explained making up the story out of self-destructive “self-loathing.”
It’s very telling has David Choe isn’t even the one making the statement. Oh wait, he’s too busy slapping folx with copyright infringement over that video. Fuck that dude. And that show. https://t.co/vJpI2mncoY
— Rebecca Theodore-Vachon 🇭🇹 🇩🇴 🇺🇸 (@FilmFatale_NYC) April 21, 2023
Since then, the only response on Choe’s behalf has been a cover-up. Twitter removed posts of the podcast clip that racked up millions of views.
David Choe wrote to Twitter to get the video I posted of him talking about the woman he says he raped taken down on copyright grounds.
He claims his *nonprofit* owns the copyright to the video of him talking about the alleged rape. pic.twitter.com/6IaSXTOeQ1
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 16, 2023
Users who shared it received “Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices that were filed seemingly by Choe himself under the David Young Choe Foundation.” The notices demanded “immediate” removal of the embedded videos as “copyright infringing media.”
Check out the clapbacks about who “put in the work” and how Choe’s story affects Black women after the flip.
Did David Choe And The Beef Team Really “Put In The Work” To Handle The Assault Story And Its Impact On Black Women?
Even for those who believe Choe’s worst mistake was making up the story for “shock value,” it’s not enough. Several comments claim the apologies should be as bold and detailed as the disrespect.
This is exactly how I imagined Wong and Yeun would respond, and it’s even more terrifying in reality. Choe issuing copyright infringement claims against recent posts to hush the general public already disproved their vouch for his “put in the work.” He clearly did not. https://t.co/Lrxhlqjrj1
— Ray Liu, Writer (@rayliur) April 21, 2023
Despite an immersive experience about wellness and emotional health for Beef’s rollout, the team missed opportunities to prepare to explain the work Choe reportedly put in.
& just like that, i won’t fvk w/anything ali wong or steven yeun touch, ever again
david choe chose a young Black girl to name as his victim, b/c he knew we aren’t the “model” & no one would care
that’s not mental illness, it’s WS & antiBlknss
but i appreciate their honesty https://t.co/Q0P0bkhCn4 pic.twitter.com/RwqPPxHjij
— Ninja Kitty Boop BLM (@2KllMckngBrd) April 22, 2023
Despite praise for Beef’s ethnic representation, the statement fails to acknowledge how the scandal would affect Black fans. Black women statistically face higher rates of sexual assault.
cw// SA, david choe
this is bullshit. asian creatives are finally being given platforms to tell our stories, and these fuckers use that to show their anti-Blackness & misogyny. https://t.co/62LMA4hMZN
— lily 💗 (@mandawhore) April 22, 2023
According to the National Center on Violence Against Women in the Black Community, 20% of Black women are rape survivors. Thirty-five percent of black women experienced physical sexual violence during their lifetime.
not watching the David Choe clip because I don’t want to unnecessarily trigger myself.
“joke” or not, his words contribute to a world where Black women are disproportionately targeted for rape because rapists know people frequently don’t care about or believe BW’s victimization
— Wagatwe Wanjuki 🇰🇪 🇧🇸 (@wagatwe) April 18, 2023
Several comments highlighted Choe said “Rose” was a 13 or 14-year-old child, not a grown woman masseuse. One in four Black girls experiences sexual abuse before they’re 18. Forty to sixty percent of Black women reported that someone sexually coerced them before 18.
Patiently waiting for the woman who was raped to surface.
In the meantime, David Choe, Ali Wong and Steven Yeun can go to hell. And that chick who bragged about raping the 13 year old.
Rape is not a joke. Claiming he’s mentally ill to blanket his “joke” is wrong. https://t.co/thrixKUkpa
— Arlinda (@greeniejoey) April 22, 2023
Regardless of whether “Rose,” the “half-Black” masseuse from Choe’s story is “fabricated,” there are millions of assault survivors whose trauma was invoked and triggered by his “bad storytelling.”
Oh, thank god David Choe is all right! Cuz I was really worried about his mental health, not the mental health of all the survivors who had to listen to him make funny about r@pe.
— Ungovernable 🌱 (@UngovernableChi) April 22, 2023
The conversation about Beef noted how often other races lean into Black American culture without meaningfully supporting or respecting Black people. Stars like Awkwafina draw criticism for using Black culture as a costume for a persona. Black people came to mind first to influence AAVE in Beef’s dialogue or “fabricate” a story about rape, but an afterthought when it comes to accountability.
Now that I’ve bursted my *beef was amazing* bubble – they used so much AAVE & had no black community members/friends? Except for the black man who was holding Jordan’s bag? Lol we gotta stop celebrating folks who clearly hate us. https://t.co/GipRT3Ywpc
— Goddess of BLACK. (@xm_muva) April 21, 2023
Do you think Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and executive producers Steven Yeun and Ali Wong “put in the work” to address David Choe’s rape story?
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