'Beef' star David Choe under fire after clip resurfaces of him telling a story of sexually assaulting a massage therapist

• "Beef" actor David Choe is being criticized after a 2014 podcast video clip resurfaced on Twitter.
• The video from the now-defunct "DVDASA" podcast sees Choe tell a story about assaulting a massage therapist.

David Choe, an actor and artist who appears on Netflix's hit show "Beef," is under fire for recently resurfaced comments he made about sexual assault on a 2014 podcast.

Between 2013 and 2014, Choe hosted the "DVDASA" podcast alongside porn actor and director Asa Akira, in which the pair discussed life, relationships, sex, and work.

Described upon launch as "uncensored" and "uninhibited," Choe has come under heavy criticism over the years for a particular episode from 2014 in which he joked about sexually assaulting a massage therapist.

Gawker reported on the podcast in 2014, including the full transcript of Choe's comments.

During the 2014 podcast episode, seen by Insider and documented by Gawker, Choe said that he was on an "erection quest" and went to a massage parlor, explaining how he slowly forced himself on a masseuse.

The artist — whose artwork is featured in the title cards in multiple episodes of "Beef" — said that when the massage started, he wanted to ask if he could begin masturbating, before realizing that it sounded "creepy."

Choe explained, according to Gawker: "I'm like, wow, that sounds so creepy. 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."

The actor described his actions as "rapey behavior" during the episode, Gawker reported at the time, before saying: "I know, I'm so sorry. It's disgusting."

Choe then said he forced the masseuse to fellate him, noting that "she didn't want to do it."

He continued to discuss the incident, Gawker said, including the moment he tried to convince her to have sex with him, but she declined.

While Choe's cohosts discussed the event as rape, he joked that "the thrill of possibly going to jail is what achieved the erection quest."

The actor apologized in 2014 for the episode in a now-deleted blog post, reported Gawker. In a statement, Choe said the story was "a complete extension of my art." He blamed "bad storytelling in the style of douche" for some of his more explicit comments.

"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," Choe wrote at the time, per Gawker.

Choe issued another apology on Instagram in 2017 when the clip resurfaced again, saying: "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 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."

Choe said that he told the story "at the height of my mental illness," adding that he sought treatment at mental health facilities for several years thereafter.

Representatives for Choe and Netflix did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Following the debut of "Beef" earlier this month, the video resurfaced again on April 14. Writer Aura Bogado shared the clip on Twitter to raise awareness about Choe's previous statements due to his recent role in "Beef." She followed up with a reposted TikTok video explaining the situation. But the sound was removed due to a community guideline violation, which she says was due to Choe's comments about the assault in the podcast.

Bogado also said in her tweet: "Waiting to hear why Ali Wong and Steven Yeun made a decision to give Choe this platform. Silence really speaks volumes."

Representatives for Wong and Yeun did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

On Sunday, however, Bogado, along with several others who posted the video, said on Twitter she had received a copyright complaint that led to the video's removal from her Twitter account. A screenshot of the complaint shared by Bogado suggests the complaint came from Choe himself through his nonprofit organization, The David Young Choe Foundation. (Insider was not able to independently verify the provenance of the complaint and whether it was, in fact, filed by Choe and his organization.) Meecham Whitson Meriweather, another Twitter user who posted the video, forwarded Insider a copy of the email he received from the foundation.

"Beef," from showrunner Lee Sung Jin, has been met with widespread acclaim from subscribers and critics alike. Many viewers are praising series leads Ali Wong and Steven Yeun for their performances as warring protagonists, Amy Lau and Danny Cho, two Los Angeles residents who get into a feud after a road rage incident. Choe plays Danny's ex-convict cousin, Isaac Cho.

Choe is also an acclaimed artist – mainly using spray paint and watercolor in his work. He was previously commissioned to paint murals at Facebook's Palo Alto headquarters back in 2005 – and was paid $60,000 worth of stocks in the company, something which made him $200 million when the company went public.

The star also painted a poster of Barack Obama in 2008 as part of a grassroots campaign, and it was later hung up in the White House once Obama became president.