A couple of days after being involved in a bizarre incident with his Cobra Kai co-star, Martin Kove has issued a statement. This past Sunday, Kove was set to appear in a meet-and-greet event at the Washington State Summer Con in Puyallup, Washington. His co-star in the Netflix show, Alicia Hannah-Kim, passed by him and Kove bit her in the arm, causing an injury that was documented afterward. Hannah-Kim contacted the police, and while she did not press charges, Kove was asked to leave the event.
Hannah-Kim asked for a report to be made about the incident, and in it, the biting was categorized as assault. Hannah-Kim, who was with her husband Sebastian Roché at the event (he’s also a TV star), said that after the bite they approached Kove. Per her statement: “We approached Martin in the green room later, and he was furious and outraged and visibly angry when I told him calmly not to bite me. He insisted he bit me for fun.”
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Ralph Macchio kind of knew that Miyagi’s CGI mashup would not be fully welcome by audiences, and still he pushed for it.
According to Entertainment Weekly, 78-year-old Kove has released a statement through the PR firm Jaffe & Co. Crisis Management. In the statement, he indicates the following:
“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.”
Kove and Hannah-Kim played John Kreese and Kim Da-Eun in the latest seasons of the Netflix series. Though Kim Da-Eun is a new character in the franchise, Kreese has been active in The Karate Kid universe since the early 1980s as the antagonist to Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. John Kreese is Kove’s most important role to date.
The Future of ‘Cobra Kai’ Remains Uncertain
The cast and crew of Cobra Kai are currently enjoying the legacy of the beloved spin-off. Appearing at conventions is one thing, but they will likely see their careers grow after the Netflix series put them in the spotlight. Ralph Macchio recently showed that he still was the Karate Kid in Karate Kid: Legends, but so far, he’s the only one who is still “in character.”
If Netflix doesn’t capitalize on the success of the nostalgia-based comedy series, they could be missing a great opportunity. Legends was a good opportunity to show the world that The Karate Kid was still alive as a franchise. But in terms of target and franchise rights, Cobra Kai is a whole other thing. The Miyagi legacy is important, but the series had its share of compelling characters who could be expanded into different storylines that are not exactly about the Miyagi way. Hawk and Demetri are great for a spin-off, but how about the others? Wouldn’t you see shows focused on Robby, Tory, Kenny or Stingray? Time will tell, it seems.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
3.5
/5
- Release Date
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2018 – 2025-00-00
- Network
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Netflix, YouTube Premium
- Directors
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Hayden Schlossberg, Jon Hurwitz, Joel Novoa, Jennifer Celotta, Steven K. Tsuchida, Sherwin Shilati, Marielle Woods, Steve Pink, Lin Oeding, Michael Grossman
- Writers
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Josh Heald, Ashley Darnall, Chris Rafferty, Bill Posley
