Warning: The following article contains triggering language related to sexual assault, abuse, and rape.
David Choe is facing scrutiny for a resurfaced clip from 2014 discussing raping a Black woman in detail.
During an episode of his now-defunct podcast, DVDASA, Choe spoke vividly about the moment he forced himself on a “half-Black, half-white” masseuse he referred to as “Rose,” MadameNoire reports.
According to Buzzfeed, the video has since been deleted by Twitter, but the publication managed to transcribe the entire interview, revealing what Choe himself described as “dangerous” behavior.
“It’s dangerous, and it’s super self-destructive. I’m at a place, and there’s potential for a lawsuit…” he says candidly. “And she has given me no signs that she’s into me or that this is appropriate behavior. In my head I go, ‘Do you care if I jerk off right now?’ and it sounds so creepy in my head that I go I can’t say that out loud … 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.”
“So I just start jerking off. So then her hands gets off my leg, and she just stops … I go, ‘Look I’m sorry, I can’t help myself — can you just pretend like I’m not doing this, and you continue with the massage?’ And she’s like ‘All right,’ and she does … I’m like, ‘Can I touch your butt?’ and I reach out and touch her butt, and she pulls away. She doesn’t want me to touch her butt.”
As he continues recounting the encounter with “Rose,” he describes grabbing and moving her hand to his penis before sexually assaulting her.
“She’s definitely not into it, but she’s not stopping it either. I say, ‘Kiss it a little,’ she says, ‘No, all the massage oil is on it,’ and I take the back of her head and I push it down on my d**k, and she doesn’t do it. And I say, ‘Open your mouth, open your mouth,’ and she does it, and I start facef**king her.”
The podcast’s co-host, Asa Akira, is audibly disgruntled after hearing his admission and bluntly labels his behavior as “rape.”
“You’re basically telling us that you’re a rapist now, and the only way to get your d**k really hard is rape,” Akira, says before Choe simply responds, “Yeah,” adding he’s a “successful rapist.”
Choe, who is also a celebrity graffiti artist, initially faced criticism for his actions in 2014. At the time, Choe uploaded a statement to the podcast’s website denying allegations that he was a rapist and claimed that the story he told was fictional.
“I never thought I’d wake up one late afternoon and hear myself called a rapist. It sucks. Especially because I am not one. I am not a rapist. I hate rapists, I think rapists should be raped and murdered.”
“We create stories and tell tales. It’s not a news show. It’s not a representation of my reality,” he continued. “It’s not the place to come for reliable information about me or my life. 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 entertainer posted another apology in 2017 when the clip reared its head again. Choe claimed that his story was his attempt at generating “shock value” and cited that his mental illness made him a “sick person” in 2014.
“In a 2014 episode of DVDASA, I relayed a story simply for shock value that made it seem as if I had sexually violated a woman. 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. 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,” he went on. “Additionally, I do not condemn anyone or have any ill will towards those who spread hate and speak out negatively against me, no one will ever hate me more than I hated myself back then. Today I’ve learned to love and forgive others just as much as myself. It’s been a rough journey but i am grateful to be alive and to dedicate myself to shining the light I have found within myself and live in service and gratitude. I am truly sorry for the negative words and dark messages I had put out into the world.”
The clip resurfaced after Netflix’s Beef was released to critical acclaim on April 6, 2023, snagging a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Along with Choe, Beef stars Steven Yuen, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, and more. Netflix’s new series follows two strangers who get into a road rage incident which then chaotically spills over into their personal lives.
Netflix and the rest of the cast have yet to address Choe’s resurfaced comments.