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Martin Kove has issued a public apology to his “Cobra Kai” co-star Alicia Hannah-Kim after he bit her arm at a fan convention on Sunday.
“I deeply regret and apologize for my actions regarding the incident with Alicia (Hannah-Kim), a genuinely kind and wonderful person who didn’t deserve to be put in this position,” Kove said in a statement obtained by Variety from Jaffe & Co. Crisis Management. “I’ve always respected her and considered her a highly professional and talented co-worker on ‘Cobra Kai’. I was being playful in the moment but went too far and there is absolutely no excuse for my behavior. I regret my actions for which I take full responsibility for what I did, and again I apologize to her and her husband. I’m committed to learning from this and it will never happen again.”
In a report from the Puyallup Police Department obtained by Variety on Monday, Hannah-Kim accused Kove of assaulting her at a “Cobra Kai” appearance at Summer Con in Puyallup, Wash.
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In the report, Hannah-Kim told an officer positioned in the VIP section of the event that after tapping Kove on the shoulder to say hello, he abruptly grabbed her arm and bit her “so hard he nearly drew blood.” The report adds that after she screamed in pain, Kove allegedly started kissing her arm where he had bitten her. The Puyallup Police Department stated that Hannah-Kim alerted her husband, who was present at the convention, to the incident. When the two went to confront Kove, he reportedly “exploded on them, saying something to the effect of how dare they confront him.”
Hannah-Kim then alerted the reporting officer to the assault. According to the report, Kove told the officer that he was trying to be “funny,” adding that they “play fight all the time on the set of ‘Cobra Kai.’” Kove was then reportedly told to leave. The report states that Hannah-Kim did not want to press charges, but “wished to have a report filed in case this continues.”
In the original 1984 “Karate Kid,” Kove played John Kreese, the film’s main antagonist. He reprised the roles in two sequels and the “Cobra Kai” spinoff series.
