Netflix is currently facing the heat for casting David Choe in its hit miniseries, Beef, after a 2014 podcast clip of him admitting that he sexually assaulted his masseuse resurfaced. But even though the clip is being discussed now, it always existed and so did the allegations against Choe and yet, the streamer hired him. But Netflix is not the first tentpole platform to give the controversial actor a chance – Disney Plus already did that.
Choe, who is majorly known for his graffiti murals, has starred in season two of Star Wars’ The Mandalorian. Though remembering the actor amid the many aliens from different planets we met in the previous season might be difficult, we are here to jog your memories.
David Choe’s role in The Mandalorian season two
He starred as “Ringside Spectator” (as per the end credits) in the Gamorrean fight club scene in season two, episode one “Chapter Nine: The Marshal.” Choe confirmed the same in an Instagram post, wherein he also shared sketch drawings of his character. But playing a background character in the episode was not the only part he had in the season.
When the desert planet of Tatooine is first seen in the season, its buildings are covered in graffiti that plays a significant role in highlighting its current status and its history. And it was Choe who gave the planet its legendary past as revealed in the documentary, Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian.
For those who don’t know, Choe is majorly popular for painting murals at Facebook’s offices in the wee days of the company and as revealed by The New York Times, he received payment in the form of shares of stock valued at over $200 million.
As shared in the documentary, when he asked Jon Favreau, who is his friend, why Star Wars’ live-actions projects don’t have any graffiti, he was tasked to give the entire Tatooine “generations of graffiti.”
As the debate around the sexual assault confession from Choe gathers more momentum, his presence in The Mandalorian will probably escape any intense scrutiny given the size of his role and the fact that many are not aware of how he affected season two. It is his future in Beef that continues to retain even more question marks. Though it has been reported that the show will be submitted in the miniseries, anthology, and TV movie category at the Emmys, series creator Lee Sung Jin has admitted to Rolling Stone, that “there are a lot of ideas on my end to keep this story going.”
