Beef star David Choe's rape comments removed online

Choe is also an illustrator and artist and appears in new Netflix show Beef

Audio clips of Beef star David Choe joking about allegedly sexually assaulting a massage therapist have been taken offline.

Writers Aura Bogado and Meecham Whitson Meriweather posted clips from 2014's Erection Quest, an episode of Choe's podcast DVDASA, on Thursday, but they were removed on Sunday.

Both say Twitter emailed them Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) notices that were filed by Choe himself.

Choe has not yet responded.

Industry publication Variety has reviewed the email sent from Twitter to Meriweather, in which someone saying they are Choe, writing on behalf of the David Young Choe Foundation, describes Bogado's and Meriweather's posts as "copyright infringing media" and asks that they be removed "immediately".

The controversial podcast episode, which came out nine years ago, also attracted criticism at the time.

In the resurfaced clips, Choe tells his co-host Asa Akira and other guests about an incident in which he received a massage from a therapist.

He goes on to detail numerous sex acts, which appear to be non-consensual, saying: "The thrill of possibly going to jail, that's what achieved the erection quest."

'Bad storytelling'

"Ew, you're basically telling us that you're a rapist now," Akira says.

Choe replies: "Yeah," before answering the other guests' questions about the masseur's appearance.

"What... is wrong with you guys?" Akira asks. "Who cares what she looks like? Dave is telling us he's a rapist."

"A successful rapist," Choe then laughs.

Speaking at the time the podcast came out, Choe said the story had been "misinterpreted" and was "not a representation of my reality."

He told the New York Times in 2014: "I never raped anyone," adding that the masseuse story was fictional and a work of performance art.

In a statement posted around the same time, he wrote: "I never thought I'd wake up one late afternoon and hear myself called a rapist. It sucks. Especially because I am not one. I am not a rapist. I hate rapists."

He added: "If I am guilty of anything, it's bad storytelling in the style of douche. Just like many of my paintings are often misinterpreted, the same goes with my show... I'm sorry if anyone believed that the stories were fact. They were not!"

Choe plays a supporting role as Isaac in Netflix comedy drama Beef, which first aired earlier this month.

The critically-acclaimed series stars Steven Yeun and Ali Wong as Danny Cho and Amy Lau, two people who get involved in a road rage incident which sets off an escalating battle between the two.

Variety also contacted producers A24, Netflix and Beef creator Lee Sung Jin for comment.

The Domestic and Sexual Abuse helpline is accessible by calling 0808 802 1414 or visiting [e-mail] and further information is also available on the BBC Action Line.