Netflix series creator and stars Steak Finally, it tackles the resurgent controversy over David Choe after more than a week of social media backlash over the cast.
But if fans are looking for an apology or an explanation for their delayed response, they may be disappointed.
in a statement Variation, Steak’‘ creator Lee Sung Jin and lead actors Steven Yeun and Ali Wong (who are also executive producers) describe Choe’s words about the rape in 2014 as “undeniably hurtful and deeply disturbing.” However, the trio claims that the New York artist is “working” to “make himself better”.
“The story David Choe made up nine years ago is undeniably hurtful and deeply disturbing,” the statement says. “We do not condone this story in any way, and we understand why it is so upsetting and triggering. We recognize that David has apologized in the past for making up this terrible story, and we have seen that he has worked over the past decade to get the mental health support he needs to heal himself and learn from his mistakes. ”
Following Steak’Premiere on April 6, viewers on Twitter rediscovered annoying clip From Choe’s now defunct podcast DVDASAShe describes sexually abusing a black masseuse and boasts of being a “successful rapist.” Choe garnered criticism for the episode when it aired almost a decade ago. At the time, the 46-year-old made a statement claiming that he had fabricated the incident. He wrote another apology on Instagram in 2017.
Viewers started reposting the clip last week and also other offensive comments From the New York graffiti artist. Last Sunday, author Meecham Whitson Meriweather tweeted She locked her Twitter account after she shared Choe’s recording. Journalist Aura Bogado, who has been constantly talking about Choe’s cast, issued a DMCA notice took his post from Twitter after he removed it “for copyright reasons”.
Despite Choe’s efforts to delete the podcast from the internet, complaints about the cast only increased during the week. In addition to the criticism leveled at Choe, Steak Fans expressed their disappointment at Wong and Yeun, who remained visibly silent about the scandal. This week, users noticed that Wong had locked his Twitter account.
Likewise, Wong and Yeun’s surprisingly brief statements on the subject—again without an apology—are not well received.
“Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, and Lee Sung Jin can go to hell because of this lousy statement about David Choe.” tweeted Total Gab Founder Sha Hartley. “It’s also interesting that Ali said such jokes shouldn’t fly, but now look at him.”
“So basically they all KNOW the rape ‘story’ of David Choe and they STILL chose to support him anyway?” Wrote Another user. “David Choe should have stayed in the joint statement drafts” gave an idea another. “Their continued silence would have been so much better than whatever that phrase was.”
It’s hard to believe this will be the final word in the Choe debate that led to this year’s Emmy nominations in July. After receiving tons of praise at first, Netflix submitted the series for award consideration in the Anthology/Limited Series categories. However, the evolving saga – plus, the new response to this disappointing release – could turn everything upside down.