Dee Kosh addresses terms to interview him after someone disclosed his T&Cs to the media

Since Dee Kosh’s release from prison, he has done several interviews on his offence and his time behind bars.

The online personality, whose real name is Darryl Ian Koshy, appeared on podcast programmes Plan B and The Daily Ketchup, as well as in a 99-minute-long video with Xiaxue.

However, on May 15, after the slew of interviews have been published,  Darryl posted an Instagram video addressing some slight tension between him and Rice Media, hoping to avoid a “skewed narrative” of things—something that has apparently happened “too many times before.”

 

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In the video, the YouTuber said that he received an email from Rice Media enquiring about an alleged interview agreement that he sends to potential interviewers.

This interview agreement, according to the email from Rice Media, reportedly includes terms and conditions from Darryl before an interview is published, such as “strict editing”, “token fees” and “oversight”.

As for why these terms could be controversial, they can be seen as interfering with a content creator’s creative direction.

Unless content is sponsored, there is usually no monetary payment for interviews in order for the platform to maintain its editorial integrity.

What’s going on?

Here’s some much-needed context:

First few interviews with friends

Darryl mentioned that the interviews he has done thus far (Plan B, The Daily Ketchup, Xiaxue) are with people he has relationships with.

The 34-year-old explained there were a few other people who reached out for an interview but because of his “friendship with the first few people”, he decided to do interviews with the people he was more familiar with first.

Darryl’s view on Rice Media

Rice Media has written several pieces on Darryl and according to the YouTuber, the publication “obviously” dislikes him.

“Every article they write about me, it’s always in a negative light and they always—for lack of a better word—want to see me get kicked out over and over again,” he said.

This time, however, Darryl appreciated that they tried to ask for his side of the story.

However, instead of replying directly through email, he decided to reply publicly via an Instagram video to give his unfiltered response.

His response

Darryl read and showed a snippet of his interview agreement in the video.

So why did he come up with this agreement? To safeguard himself, he said.

While Darryl seemed ok to do these interviews, his friends advised him to come up with an agreement that they could sign off on so that he safeguards himself since he’s “always under the scrutiny of the media or the law.”

He reasoned: “That’s a good idea because I really don’t want any more drama in my life.”

Unfortunately, not everyone thought it was a good idea.

“I honestly thought the agreement was quite fair but apparently not because this agreement was obviously sent to Rice Media for them to write an article about it.”

What about the token fee?

One of the terms in the agreement that perks up one’s ears, of course, is the requirement of a token fee.

Darryl laughed it off and said: “I’m not asking for S$5,000, I’m just asking for Grab money, you know what I mean?”

He reasoned that he is, after all, taking time off his day to do an interview.

His friends apparently told him to ask for about S$50, to cover “Grab and lunch, can already”.

Agreement made to protect himself

He added that he understands if the people who saw the agreement would think that he is “trying to control” and “edit everything to make himself look good”.

Ultimately, the agreement was made to protect himself and make the process “easier for everyone”.

“As much as I want to be, you know, open and to be able to answer all [that] anyone wants to ask, I also know how the media works. I also know how you can edit things to make me or make anyone sound worse. I’ve seen it in the journalism that happens when it came to my case, I know how to edit videos. So I know it’s very possible.”

You also won’t be seeing Darryl doing similar interviews any time soon because he is “a bit more scarred”.

So what’s the Rice Media article about?

Rice Media did publish an article on Darryl on May 16 titled “Dee Kosh Denies Trying To Control the Narrative With Interview Terms and Conditions”.

You can click the hyperlink and read the detailed story but in case you want a TL;DR:

• Introduction to Darryl’s interview agreement
• Statements from representatives of Plan B, The Daily Ketchup and Xiaxue
• Statements from Darryl’s Instagram reel

In the article, Xiaxue was quoted as saying:

“Regarding the token fee, during filming Dee insisted I treat him zhup cai png and had the gall to order two meats, one egg and one veg. It amounted to $5.60.”

An Instagram Story from Xiaxue on May 16, however, revealed that her response was a “trolling quote”.

In fact, this was her full response: 

As with all things on the internet, one should take things with a pinch of salt.

Top image screenshot from @thedeekosh.