Alicia Hannah-Kim is publicly speaking out after her Cobra Kai co-star Martin Kove apologized for biting her arm at a fan convention.
In an Instagram video shared Sunday, Hannah-Kim thanked everyone for their support before diving into the “serious incident.“
“No one wants to be attacked at work or anywhere really. And I don’t think anybody would think this is normal or warranted or acceptable,” she said.
She added, “I just think that when you are confronted with something like this, it’s good to stand up for yourself. It’s an important choice to make. I think it’s the good choice to make. I also want to express that this does not represent my experience with the show at large. I think everybody can tell that it’s a really good vibe and a great cast. And everybody else is delightful. I don’t want this to affect your love for the show. Feel free to love on it as hard as you want.”
According to an incident report filed by a Puyallup police officer and obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the biting occurred after Hannah-Kim approached her former co-star Kove at Washington State’s Summer Con in Puyallup last week and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
“When Alicia did this, 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 (Alicia had a very noticeable bite mark on her arm that was already turning blue and bruising),” the report states.
When Kove was confronted about the assault by Hannah-Kim and her husband, the report states that Kove “exploded on them, saying something to the effect of how dare they confront him, and he did not do anything wrong.” Kove later admitted to bitting Hannah-Kim, but said “he thought he was being funny.”
Kove has since issued a public apology to his co-star. “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 to TMZ, sent 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.”
During the fifth and sixth seasons of Cobra Kai, Hannah-Kim portrayed Kim Da-Eun. Meanwhile, Kove reprised his role as John Kreese — the antagonist from the 1984 film The Karate Kid — in the Netflix spinoff series.