The creator and two stars of the new Netflix series “Beef” addressed a brewing controversy on Friday about another actor on the show who said on a podcast in 2014 that he had sexually assaulted a masseuse, comments now recirculating on social media.
David Choe, an actor and artist, has long said that he made up the incident he recounted on his podcast, an assertion that the show’s creator, Lee Sung Jin, and its lead actors, Steven Yeun and Ali Wong, backed up in a statement.
“The story David Choe fabricated nine years ago is undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing,” said Lee, Yeun and Wong, who are also executive producers on “Beef.” “We do not condone this story in any way, and we understand why this has been so upsetting and triggering.”
They added, “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.”
Netflix confirmed the authenticity of the statement, which was made exclusively to Vanity Fair, but declined to comment. Choe and representatives for Lee, Yeun and Wong did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
On a 2014 episode of a podcast that Choe co-hosted, he talked about engaging in what he called “rape-y behavior” when he coerced a masseuse into oral sex. He later said that the story was made up.
“I never raped anyone,” he told The New York Times two years ago.
The clip from his podcast has recirculated on social media since the premiere of “Beef” this month. The show stars Yeun and Wong as Angelenos who get into a road-rage conflict that ripples into the rest of their lives, and Choe appears in seven episodes as the cousin of Yeun’s character.
The 10-episode season has received praise from critics and was the service’s second-most-watched English-language show this week, according to Netflix.
Choe hosted a four-episode limited series on FX and Hulu in 2021 and has appeared in other shows sporadically, including in one episode of “The Mandalorian.” “Beef” is his first substantial acting role.
Choe gained broad recognition in 2012, after an initial public offering appeared to make him a multimillionaire.
Several years earlier, the entrepreneur Sean Parker had asked Choe to paint murals in the Palo Alto, Calif., offices of an internet start-up. Parker offered him $60,000 or stock in the nascent company, Choe has said, which is how Choe wound up a very early shareholder in Facebook, which is now called Meta.
