William Zabka Defends Marc Maron Over Karate Kid Criticism The Hollywood Reporter

William Zabka on Wednesday defended Marc Maron over criticism regarding his interview with the Cobra Kai star on his popular podcast.

During an hourlong chat on the May 31 episode of WTF With Marc Maron, the host admitted that he had seen only snippets of The Karate Kid, but that he’d been watching Cobra Kai, the Netflix series based on the classic 1984 film. Maron noted he had seen and enjoyed several other films featuring Zabka, but never the one that helped launch his and Ralph Macchio‘s careers.

Zabka did not seem to mind, and the admission did not impact their thoughtful chat. However, Maron was taken to task (on Twitter, of course), with some arguing that it was rude to have not watched the film before the interview, or to straight-up tell Zabka he had not seen it.

In the week since the episode’s release, Maron has rebuffed some and likely ignored many more of the critical tweets. Now, Zabka himself has weighed in. “For the record, this was one of the most in-depth and enjoyable talks I’ve had and Marc couldn’t have been more gracious or respectful — Zabka #Out,” the actor tweeted.

As for the podcast, one of the most amusing anecdotes was Zabka explaining just how lame Comic Cons used to be for him before Cobra Kai.

“I love it now because up until [Cobra Kai] I was the table that the dads would walk up and go, ‘I just want my kid to meet you. This guy was the biggest asshole. Nice to meet you.’ And they would walk away,” he told Maron. “Now, I got people coming up and going, ‘Hey, I love you on the show. Johnny is cool now.’”

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