Controversy: multi-millionaire artist and actor David Chow. Credits: Amanda Edwards/Getty. Ali Wong has been one of the breakout hits of the year for streamers so far.
But now Biff has been embroiled in some very dark allegations against actor David Chou from the time he pictorially described the commission of sexual assault on a podcast and the radio silence from all involved — combined with the apparent attempt to wipe away any evidence this from social networks — only exacerbated the situation.
Chow, who plays main character Danny's newly released cousin Isaac Cho, is not an actor. Not that you realize it: his Isaac is Bif's chaotic, frightening secret weapon, a loose cannon that turns a thriller into a stomach-turning nightmare.
Indeed, if you've heard of Chow, it probably is. , as the man who made it fashionable for people to invest in startups as payment for working with them. This gambit worked great for him.
Chow grew up between Los Angeles and South Korea, the son of two born-again Christians who emigrated from Korea. His family left Los Angeles when he was four years old as they couldn't afford to stay in the city — instead they moved their family to Korea for a year. Young Cho didn't like it: he didn't speak Korean and later said he was sexually assaulted around this time.
Chow thought Facebook was «ridiculous and pointless» but opted for the stock option. It seemed like something punk.
When Facebook went public in 2012, the shares were worth $38 each. Chow's fortune suddenly exceeded $200 million. This would mean that his daubs on the walls of the Facebook office were among the ten most expensive works of art ever sold, ahead of Picasso's Women of Algiers. (The original murals were painted over by Chow the following year.)
His new wealth caused Chow to have something of a crisis. He became an «out of control gambler» and told The New York Times that he didn't even need the riches he got into.
This cocktail of eagerness to shock, willingness to roll the dice and bottomless pockets was intoxicating. CNBC reported that in 2014, Chow found $100,000 in cash in a shoe box at his home and decided to prize it in an elaborate scavenger hunt that took players across the US.
Rolling Stone magazine reported on an article from his life following his windfall on Facebook. In response, Cho sent a long list of requirements that had to be met if he was going to collaborate, including choosing a writer he wanted to hire and a spot on the cover of a magazine. If it doesn't sell as well as other releases, Chow says he'll pay the difference.
David Chow in his studio in New York's Chinatown in 2009. Photo: Ramin Talaye
It's not like Chou used to be a struggling artist. He made $1 million or so just selling his art in Los Angeles and gambling in Las Vegas. But now he was a man with a taste for turning people on and almost bottomless pockets.
The current storm first hit in 2014. In March of that year, Chow released an episode of his DVDASA podcast (which stands adorably, for Double Vag Double Anal Sensitive Artist) in which he told the story of how he once went to a masseuse whom he named «Rose.»
It's strange to listen to it. Chow, in a nonchalant tone, details several incidents of sexual abuse against Rose. The atmosphere in the studio where Choi, co-host Asa Akira and a few friends are recording seems noisy. Friends interrupt Chow to ask what Rose looks like, how old she is, what kind of chest she has.
The only one who challenged him was Akira. Cho seems only slightly indignant: «I just want to make it clear that I admit that this is rape.» But I'm not a rapist."
At the time, Chou's remarks caused an uproar, although no criminal investigation or charges were opened in connection with it. Chow defended himself and the story as «not a representation of my reality», but as an extension of his «art that sometimes offends people».
David Chow tweeted to get a video I posted of him talking about a woman he says he raped on copyright grounds.
He claims that the copyright of the video in which he talks about the alleged rape belongs to his *non-profit* organization. pic.twitter.com/6IaSXTOeQ1
— Aura Bogado (@aurabogado) April 16, 2023
“I am not a rapist,” he said in a statement. “I hate rapists, I believe that rapists should be raped and killed. I am an artist and storyteller and I see my DVDASA show as a complete extension of my art. If there's anything I'm to blame for, it's bad storytelling in the style of a jerk.»
He said he was «misinterpreted»: his show was dedicated to being «dark, tasteless, completely irreverent», and pretending he had raped a woman was just a provocation.
«I'm sorry if anyone believed these stories were true,» he said. «They weren't!»
Some weren't convinced. In 2017, another artist tagged a mural in New York, apparently in protest of his comments. Chow posted a rambling apology and a request for understanding on Instagram.
“Sex without consent is rape and joking about it is never funny or inappropriate,” he wrote on Instagram. «I was a sick person at the height of my mental illness and spent the last three years in mental hospitals healing myself and dedicating my life to helping and healing others through love and action.»
How charismatic and loved Chou became is a testament to the support he received, and it seemed like the whole incident had been drawn to a close. In a 2021 New York Times profile, Chow appeared punished and brooding. He described himself as a “recovering liar” and a man who was fed up with himself.
“During that period of my life, I ended up with life and the pursuit of the bottom. I wanted to leave,” he said. The desire to say the most disgusting things that he could, reflected not what was happening in the world, but what was happening inside himself.
“It was strangely comforting that you were so despised,” he said. «It matched how I felt about myself the first time.»
However, there was still optimism. “I just assume that every time I do something, there are haters. If you want to come and try to cancel me, that's fine,» he said. «I don't live in fear.»
That's how Chow landed a role in the Star Wars spin-off The Mandalorian: he interrupted showrunner Jon Favreau outside a taco shop. «Hey,» Choi yelled, «put some fucking street art in Star Wars!»Wounded, Aggressive, Fragile: David Chow as Isaac Cho in Beef Credit: Andrew Cooper/Netflix
Favreau agreed and brought Chow in a «blink and you'll miss it» cameo, for which Chow decided to learn the language of Jabba the Hutt and write his character a detailed backstory. “I went for broke,” he told Joe Rogan.
This network of friends helped him get to Beef, where his nasty streak and subversive, dangerous undertones were perfect for Isaac, Danny's ex-imprisoned brother who encourages his worst excesses before taking Danny's feud to extreme conclusions. It could have been written for Chow: vulnerable, aggressive, brittle.
«He was talking about being abandoned by his family, and I thought, 'The way he talks about it just sounds like Isaac,'» Lee said today. “I just knew he was perfect. This guy doesn't know how to be fake… in every scene he's so sincere.» Chow also provided the distinctive pictures that form the title cards for each Beef episode.
It is obvious that Chow still feels the need to shock. On a Joe Rogan podcast earlier this month, Chow called himself a «cannibal» as he became so enthusiastic about eating placenta that he now has «a freezer full of human placenta.»
But while still expressing reconciliation over the podcast incident, Choi seems to have stopped apologizing. The two tweeters who tweeted a clip of Chow talking about the alleged attack found that their posts had been taken down by Twitter. The reason was that a copyright lawsuit had been filed against them on behalf of David Chow and on behalf of his charitable organization, the David Young Chow Foundation.
It hasn't been confirmed who authorized it or why, but it's in line with Chow's all-or-nothing approach to life. In 2021, Chow told the New York Times how he sees his future.
“Death, prison or super wealth,” he said. «There is no middle ground for me.»
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