CBS Responds To ‘Hawaii Five-O’ Pay Dispute Accusations

Last week, it was announced that Daniel Dae Kim & Grace Park were exiting Hawaii Five-0 after it was alleged that CBS refused to meet their salary demands. CBS has now fired back at those allegations.

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In a statement shared by Variety, CBS said, “Daniel and Grace have been important and valued members of Hawaii Five-0 for seven seasons. We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases.”

The statement continued, “While we could not reach an agreement, we part ways with tremendous respect for their talents on screen, as well as their roles as ambassadors for the show off screen, and with hopes to work with them again in the near future.”

When the initial news came out that Kim and Pak were exiting Hawaii Five-0, Peter Lenkov, the show’s executive producer, said, “I will never forget meeting Daniel while still writing the pilot and being certain there was no other actor who I’d want to play Chin Ho Kelly. Needless to say, Daniel has been an instrumental part of the success of Hawaii Five-O over the past 7 seasons and it has personally been a privilege to know him.”

More: Daniel Dae Kim Speaks Out About ‘Sad’ Exit From ‘Hawaii Five-0’

He then went on to praise Grace Park as well, writing, “Grace’s presence gave Hawaii Five-O a beauty and serenity to each episode. She was the consummate collaborator, helping build her character from day 1. They will always be ohana to us, we will miss them and we wish them both all the best.”

Kim eventually responded to the news by saying, “I’m sad to say it is true. I will not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 when production starts next week. Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue.”