People think Facebook’s recent IPO filing has made California artist David Choe a rich man, but they are grossly mistaken. Choe was already a rich man. And he wasn’t homeless (Choe owns a home but lives out of hotels as he travels a lot). But you can describe him as an avid gambler, ex-con, looter, Howard Stern’s adopted son Kim Jong Stern, touring musician, and anything else that is true.
Media has romanticized Choe’s debut on mainstream culture as the tale of a rags-to-riches street artist. Actually, Choe was already a thriving, successful underground artist. He may have had a criminal past, looting against the L.A. rioters and spending time in a Japanese jail, but now he prefers to live dangerously the Las Vegas way. As a high roller, Choe frequents the Strip where he has a free place to stay at all the major casino resorts. His newly found Facebook fortune has brought him one thing though: loss of privacy. “I cannot buy my privacy back. What the hell is happening” Choe said in an interview with Barbara Walters. So respect the artist, cop one of these cool tees ($24-26) from the Upper Playground store, and leave David Choe alone.
