Actor Martin Kove, best known for playing John Kreese in Cobra Kai and The Karate Kid films is under fire over a bizarre situation he was involved in at a fan convention. The 78-year-old character actor reportedly bit his Cobra Kai co-star Alicia Hannah-Kim while they were guests at the Washington State Summer Con in Puyallup, Washington (June 2025).
According to reports from the convention, the incident occurred during what seemed to be a playful moment. Allegedly, Alicia tapped Kove on his shoulder, and in reaction Kove bit her on the arm. There were visible red marks left from the bite, and Kove followed it up with a kiss on the same area. He later told staff and bystanders that it was all in fun and that he was just "messing around."
The authorities on site took the incident very seriously. Kove was escorted away from the venue very shortly after it happened. Hannah-Kim has not yet requested charges to be pressed, but a formal police report has been filed because of the physical contact and the markings left on Hannah-Kim's arm. The report reads like this in regard to describing the injury, "it was minor", but then went on to say that the object of the bite left some bruising.
So far, Alicia Hannah-Kim hasn't made a public comment about what happened. Convention organisers also haven't made an official statement, however the incident has led to much debate online regarding boundaries and appropriateness at public conventions or events and the fact that this was a celebrity and a celebrity's fans or colleagues.
It has been reported that Martin Kove apologized to Hannah-Kim prior to leaving the venue. While the look during the apology was vague at best, his team has not made any statements publicly since the event. Martin Kove has other conventions he is still scheduled for in the upcoming weeks including ATL Comic Convention in Atlanta this July. Again, it is unclear if any of Kove's future appearances will be impacted by this incident.
The timing of this situation is interesting as both Kove and Hannah-Kim will be appearing in the final season of Cobra Kai which was a revived show on Netflix based on Karate Kid, which brought the characters back from the original movies. The popular Netflix series is ending with Season 6, with episodes released expected in early 2025.
For the fifth season, Hannah-Kim joined the cast as Sensei Kim Da-Eun, a powerful, new character who became a significant part of the show. Everyone loved her performance, and we are excited to see her cameo appear again in the next season.
'Cobra Kai' actress Alicia Hannah-Kim complained to police that Martin Kove, who's played John Kreese since the very first 'Karate Kid' movie, bit her. https://t.co/vKddVlUGvi
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) June 24, 2025
This incident raises our attention to how fan conventions organize the guest experience so that both celebrities and fans feel safe at these events. Even if the bite was meant as a harmless joke, the fact that event staff and the police insisted it was a matter of bad behavior talks volumes.
For the record, there is nothing yet to suggest that this incident will have any impact on Cobra Kai's production or streaming release schedule, however fans and the public will be looking for an official response from the show producers or streaming platform in the coming days.
Image Source: People.com
