David Choe recently shared a striking observation about his media appearances over the past two decades. During a candid conversation on the Andrew Huberman hosted Huberman Lab podcast, Choe revealed that only two interviewers have ever aired his conversations without significant editing, Howard Stern and Joe Rogan.
Choe describes a recurring cycle throughout his career where controversial statements led to professional consequences. After sending an inflammatory email to Marvel Comics early in his career, he experienced his first taste of public rejection.
“Every artist I look up to, every writer I look up to in comics was like, we don’t know who the f— this kid is, but he just committed career s–cide,”
he recalls. The shame from that incident became fuel rather than deterrent.
His podcast DVDASA pushed boundaries deliberately.
“I was like, how can I record the downfall of me? Like how much can I go over the edge? How much can I push up against this boundary,”
Choe explains. When confronted by Vice executives about his podcast content, he defended his approach.
“I can say what the f— I want. I’m like, this is Vice, baby.”
The consequences eventually caught up. Production company Zero Point Zero, which worked with Anthony Bourdain, told Choe they loved Bourdain but would not work with him.
“The optics aren’t good,”
they said. The episode he filmed with Bourdain for Parts Unknown was temporarily removed from digital distribution platforms.
“They took it off and I was like just keep striking you know,”
he remembers.
Choe specifically mentions Joe Rogan as one of the few hosts who aired his appearances unedited.
“Howard Stern like 15, 20 years ago and Joe Rogan the multiple times I’ve been on a show I think are the only two radio shows podcasts that have ever just aired it without editing,”
he notes. Every other podcast appearance was either heavily edited, had large portions removed or never aired at all.
The unfiltered nature of Rogan‘s platform represented something valuable to Choe during his most chaotic period. While discussing his approach to media, Choe admits he would typically prepare extensively before podcast appearances, calling friends and rehearsing for hours. But with certain hosts, he felt permission to be genuinely himself.
The artist admits he treated his podcast as performance art about self-destruction.
“I treated it like it was just another, you know, I was it was Sean Parker. I’m not blaming it was these people in my life that I witnessed as successful. They didn’t take reality seriously.”
He references Sean Parker as an example of the culture he observed.
Comparing his approach to his visual art, Choe explains the fundamental difference.
“When you paint the most vile, obscene, disgusting s—, it’s still a painting, right? But when you say stuff, people take it literally.”
This realization came too late to prevent professional damage. David Choe claims that he had fabricated the detailed story he told on a 2014 podcast about coercing a masseuse into intimate relations.
The cancellations were not just professional setbacks, they fed into Choe‘s shame driven cycle.
“I’m chasing shame like it’s like what would it feel like if everyone’s like dude that’s the masterpiece not as cool not as cool,”
he admits. The pattern became self perpetuating.
Anthony Bourdain later called to apologize after the production company rejected working with Choe.
“Tony called me an apology. He’s like, dude, I don’t like they’re their own company. Like we work together, but they, you know, they the optics aren’t good.”
Channing Tatum‘s agency delivered similar news. An agent told him.
“We’ve spent all this time building up a heartthrob teen idol thing. He’s not going to be seen with a scumbag like you.”
After hitting bottom, Choe made the difficult decision to step back from public platforms.
“I get to the podcast the band like the people and they go they’ll be fine everyone’s going to figure it out and I and I got help,”
he explains. His approach to recovery included deliberately limiting media exposure.
Today, Choe rarely does podcasts and maintains strict boundaries around his public presence.
“I know that, you know, and I know the world we live in today. And so, there’s something that went, you know, in the narcissistic traits where like I’m the greatest artist in the world to like, oh my god, I’m a piece of s—.”
He has implemented practical barriers to protect his recovery.
“I’m artificially blocked from everything like I don’t have my own password to my social media. I have blocks on my phone so I can’t access the internet.”
Appearing on Andrew Huberman‘s podcast represented a risk Choe carefully considered.
“Every time I’ve done Joe Rogan or any other podcast, like I don’t know, I just feel comfortable doing my own YouTube or my own podcast, but anytime anyone else asks me, it’s such a I know who I am and sometimes I don’t.”
The artist acknowledges the ongoing tension between his desire for authentic expression and the consequences that follow.
“I know the world we live in today. So there’s no upside for me.”