Steven Yeun Laughs Along to ‘BEEF’ Co-Star David Choe Joking About Sexual Assault in Resurfaced Podcast Clip

Steven Yeun can be heard laughing along with Beef co-star David Choe joking about sexual assault in a resurfaced podcast clip. Twitter user and journalist Aura Bogado posted the evidence on April 21, writing, “Steven Yeun knew about David Choe’s DVDASA. He was also a guest on two episodes. In one of those episodes, Yeun is heard laughing when Choe talks about his fantasy of being tied up while his girlfriend is raped.”

In the clip, Choe asks Yeun about a scene from the actor’s former show, The Walking Dead, involving his character Glenn Rhee and Glenn’s girlfriend, Maggie Greene (Lauren Cohan). “So the thing I wanted to ask you was, yeah, so I forgot if it was last season or the season before. It’s ’cause you guys do the mid-season breaks,” Choe begins. “Is the scene where you get tortured? Like, what the f—? There was a scene where you and your girlfriend on the show get captured at the same time, and you’re in the next room.”

“Like listening to her potentially getting raped,” Yeun explains.

“Yeah, exactly,” Choe replies. “I mean, that is my No. 1…fantasy. So, like, that was hot.” Soon after, the artist later adds, “Let’s just say it happened in real life. So I tie myself up, and I can’t move. And then I call someone to come rape my girlfriend..”

“Oh, you’re a cuckold?” a woman interjects.

“Yeah. I cuckold myself,” Choe answers as Yeun laughs loudly in the background.

This clip has emerged on social media following Yeun’s joint public statement with Beef’s creator Lee Sung Jin and co-star Ali Wong to Variety, calling Choe’s 2014 remarks about rape “undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing.” Nevertheless, the trio claims the New York artist has “put in the work” to “better himself.”

“The story David Choe fabricated nine years ago is undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing,” the statement says. “We do not condone this story in any way, and we understand why this has been so upsetting and triggering. 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.”

Viewers on Twitter rediscovered a disturbing clip from Choe’s now-defunct podcast DVDASA following Beef’s Netflix premiere on April 6. Choe referred to sexually assaulting a Black masseuse and brags about his success as a rapist in the episode. Choe received criticism for the clip when it aired almost a decade ago. After releasing a statement at the time, the 46-year-old apologized again for the incident on Instagram in 2017.

As soon as the clip was published last week, viewers began resharing it, along with other alarming comments from Choe. Meecham Whitson Meriweather tweeted this past Sunday that Twitter had locked his account after posting the video. After Twitter removed her post “on copyright grounds,” Bogado posted a DMCA notice she received about Choe’s casting. The complaints about Choe’s casting have only grown throughout the week, despite Choe’s efforts to remove the podcast from the web.