:quality(75)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/elcomercio/CYUJ6N6EJVHTDAKRFSAGKHQFM4.jpg "What the cast of “Bronca” said about the David Choe controversy")
“Bronca” (“Beef” in English) has been one of the best series of Netflix of this 2023, but the show’s success is clouding the controversy surrounding David Choe, who plays Isaac, the lead’s cousin. The controversy has arisen after users of social networks recalled the unpleasant comments he made about sexual assault.
In the TV show, the actor plays Danny Cho’s (Steven Yeun) troubled cousin and the cause of the main character’s being in such a precarious financial situation. His illegal activities led to the protagonist’s parents’ hotel being repossessed and he having to break his back to make enough money to reward him.
Apparently, David doesn’t have to dig as deep into his dramatic flair to bring out his character. During an episode of his “DVDASA” podcast in 2014, he told about an alleged non-consensual sexual interaction with a masseuse, basically, he said that he had forced her to do something that she did not want.
At the time, his comments caused outrage and the “The Mandalorian” actor claimed that the story was false and that he actually made it up to generate a public reaction.
“It was not a representation of my reality”, he said after the criticism. “I am an artist and a storyteller and I see my program ‘DVDASA’ as a complete extension of my art”.
David Choe with Steven Yeun in “Bronca” (Photo: Netflix)
THE RESPONSE OF THE CREATORS OF “BRONCA” ON DAVID CHOE’S COMMENTS
Although David Choe has been active ever since, he has not had leading roles and the shows he hosted were not as popular. For example, he was part of an episode of “The Mandalorian” as an extra.
On the contrary, his role as Isaac Cho in “Bronca”, one of the most popular series of the moment, has gained much more visibility. For this reason, it was inevitable that his controversial comments would resurface and the rest of the production would be criticized for including him, despite having claimed (jokingly or not) that he had sexually assaulted a woman.
After several days of discussion, the members of the Netflix series—including creator Lee Sung Jin, executive producers and stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong—issued a statement to Vanity Fair. In the statement, they assure that they are convinced that the story was fiction, but that did not mean that it was “extremely disturbing”.
“The story that David Choe invented nine years ago is undeniably hurtful and extremely disturbing. We do not condone this story in any way, and we understand why it has been so upsetting and triggering.they said.
However, the creators and producers of “Bronca” think that Choe’s apologies and his personal work have been enough to let this go.
“We are aware that David has apologized in the past for making up this horrible story, and we have seen him work to get the mental health support he needed over the past decade to improve and learn from his mistakes.they added.
