Beef cast and creator release joint statement addressing David Choe rape comments

Trio say Choe has ‘put in the work to get the mental health support he needed’

The cast and creator of Netflix’s hit new series Beef have broken their silence on the controversy swirling around cast member David Choe.

Choe plays Isaac, the criminal cousin to Steven Yeun’s Danny in the dark comedy, which is widely considered to be the streaming service’s best show of the year so far.

Following the series’ release earlier this month, a 2014 clip from Choe’s now-defunct podcast resurfaced, which showed him talking about sexually assaulting a massage therapist.

The 46-year-old apologised for the comments at the time, claiming that the anecdote was a fabrication for the sake of the podcast.

On Friday (21 April), Beef showrunner Lee Sung Jin and his stars Yeun and Ali Wong released a statement to Variety, calling Choe’s story “undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing”.

“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 statement read.

“We’re aware David has apologised 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.”

(From left) Steven Yeun, David Choe, Ali Wong and Lee Sung Jin (Getty Images for Netflix)

In his 2014 statement, Choe – who is also an artist – wrote: “If I am guilty of anything, it’s bad storytelling in the style of douche.

“Just like many of my paintings are often misinterpreted, the same goes with my [podcast]. The main objective of all of my podcasts is to challenge and provoke my friends and the co-stars on the show.”

It was also reported this week that Choe had been attempting to have the offending clips from his podcast taken down from social media over copyright infringement.

Choe did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment.

If you have been raped or sexually assaulted, you can contact your nearest Rape Crisis organisation for specialist, independent and confidential support. For more information, visit their website here.