CBS Says ‘Hawaii Five-0’s’ Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park Turned Down ‘Large and Significant’ Raises

“We did not want to lose them and tried very hard to keep them,” network says about departing cast members

CBS
CBS

CBS is weighing in on the contract negotiations that led “Hawaii Five-0” cast members Daniel Dae Kim (Chin Ho Kelly) and Grace Park (Kono Kalakaua) to exit ahead of Season 8.

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

The network added, “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.”

CBS announced last week that “Hawaii Five-0” mainstays Kim and Park will not return, with their characters’ absences to be explained in the Season 8 premiere that airs on Sept. 29.

Kim wrote on Facebook on Tuesday that he and the network “weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue. … As an Asian-American actor, I know firsthand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well-developed, three-dimensional character like Chin Ho.”

The “Lost” alum said he encourages “us all to look beyond the disappointment of this moment to the bigger picture. The path to equality is rarely easy.”

Park has yet to comment on the exit.

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