David Choe’s audio clips joking about purportedly sexually assaulting a massage therapist have been removed from the internet.
Clips from 2014’s Erection Quest, an episode of Choe’s podcast DVDASA, were posted by Aura Bogado and Meecham Whitson Meriweather on Thursday, but they were removed on Sunday.
Both claim that Twitter sent them Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices that Choe himself had filed. Choe has not responded as of yet.
Variety has reviewed the email sent by Twitter to Meriweather, in which someone claiming to be Choe on behalf of the David Young Choe Foundation calls Bogado’s and Meriweather’s posts “copyright infringing media” and requests that they be removed “immediately.”
The release of the controversial podcast episode nine years ago was also met with criticism at the time.
Choe discusses an incident in which he received a massage from a therapist with his co-host Asa Akira and other guests in the resurfaced recordings.
He goes on to describe multiple sex acts that appear to be non-consensual, stating,
“The thrill of possibly going to jail, that’s what fueled the erection quest.”
‘Bad narrative’
Akira exclaims,
“Ew, you’re basically telling us that you’re a rapist now.”
Before responding to the other visitors’ inquiries about the masseur’s appearance, Choe affirms, “Yes.”
“What… is wrong with you guys?” Akira suggests. Who cares about her appearance? Dave is claiming to be a rapist, he says.
“A successful rapist,” Choe chuckles.
Choe stated at the time of the podcast’s release that the narrative had been “misinterpreted” and was “not a representation of my reality.”
In 2014, he stated to the New York Times, “I’ve never raped anyone,” adding that the masseuse narrative was fictitious and a work of performance art.
In a statement posted around the same time, he said,
“I never imagined waking up one late afternoon to the accusation of rape. It stinks! Especially since I am not one myself. I am not a rapist. I abhor violeurs.”
He added,
“If I am guilty of anything, it is poor storytelling in the douche manner. Just as many of my paintings are frequently misunderstood, so is my exhibition… I apologize if anyone believed the accounts to be true. They did not!”
David Choe portrays the supporting character of Isaac in the Netflix comedy-drama Beef, which premiered last month.
The critically acclaimed series stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as Danny Cho and Amy Lau, respectively, who become embroiled in a road rage incident that escalates their conflict.
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