Actor Martin Kove is in hot water after allegedly biting his Cobra Kai costar Alicia Hannah-Kim on the arm.
Kove plays Sensei John Creese in the Netflix series and in the 1980s The Karate Kid on which it is based. He was kicked out of a recent fan meet-and-greet following an incident in which Hannah-Kim says Kove assaulted her.
After her arrival at the Summer Con event in Washington, Hannah-Kim says she tapped Kove on the shoulder to greet him, at which point he bit her arm "so hard it nearly drew blood," according to a legal complaint she filed.
But the allegations get creepier from there. According to the police filing, obtained by Variety and People:
“Martin Kove suddenly grabbed her arm and bit her upper arm so hard it nearly drew blood, and she yelled out in pain."
"Once Martin Kove finished biting her arm, he grabbed her arm again and began kissing it where he had bit her.”
The filing also alleges that Kove "exploded" on Hannah-Kim and her husband Sebastian Roché after they confronted him about the incident.
The filings also state that Kove insisted he did "nothing wrong," but an officer at the event confirmed that Hannah-Kim had a bite mark on her arm that was already beginning to bruise when she reported it. Kove is said to have later admitted to the incident but claimed the bite was in "jest."
Filings state:
“[Kove] thought he was being funny, and they play fight all the time on the set of Cobra Kai, and he did not think it was a big deal.”
On social media, people had a lot to say about the bizarre incident.
Kove has since publicly apologized to Hannah-Kim for the incident.
In a statement issued to Variety, Kove wrote:
“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."
"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.”
Hannah-Kim decided not to press charges.
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