Vice & iHeartRadio Set Podcast About Disinformation Scandal Surrounding Korean Rapper Tablo

EXCLUSIVE: The wild story of how Korean musician Tablo, otherwise known as Daniel Lee, involving online forums and disinformation, is being told in a new podcast series from Vice and iHeartRadio.

The two companies have teamed up to produce ten-episode series Authentic: The Story of Tablo, which tells the years-long story of how the rapper, who is set to perform at this year’s Coachella festival, struggled to prove to the world that he was not a fraud.

The series, which launches on February 24, tells the story of the leader of the Korean hip-hop group Epik High, who had become successful in the U.S. But at the height of the group’s fame, an online forum popped up questioning his education credentials. People were skeptical of the validity of his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford University. The forum, titled Taijinyo, which loosely translates as Tell the Truth Tablo, quickly turned into the anti-fan club questioning everything from his passports, diplomas, military service and the very nature of his identity. With hundreds of thousands of people doubting all evidence presented in defense of Tablo, family members began receiving death threats, and massive media attention followed.

The podcast will look at how this came to fruition. With an exclusive interview with Lee, it tells Tablo and Epik High’s story, how the media played a role in the blow up of Tajinyo’s hunt for the truth, and the official investigation into the musician.

The series is hosted by Dexter Thomas Jr., DJ and journalist, who has worked as an on-camera correspondent for Vice News and was the host of TV series Reset, covering the unseen world of video games.

Dexter Thomas Jr. said, “The entire story is this weird mix of hip-hop, fraud, and a QAnon-level conspiracy theory that ruined lives and put people in jail, because people didn’t believe a rapper who said he went to Stanford.”