TV | July 6, 2017 10:48 am

CBS Defends Paying Asian Co-Stars of ‘Hawaii Five-0’ Less Than White Actors

Network says it offered Grace Park, Daniel Dae Kim 'significant salary increases.'

CBS Defends Underpaying Two Asian Actors for 'Hawaii Five-0'

Grace Park (as Kono, left) and Daniel Dae Kim (as Chin Ho, right) are leaving the cast of 'Hawaii Five-0' (Neil Jacobs/CBS via Getty Images)

By Will Levith

On June 30, it was widely reported that actors Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim, who co-star in CBS cop drama reboot Hawaii Five-0 were leaving the cast. It wasn’t until later that the reason for thir departure was revealed: CBS hadn’t been paying them as much as their white co-stars.

In a July 5 post on Facebook, Kim confirmed the news.

Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, CBS is doubling down, defending its equal pay snub, saying in a statement:

“We did not want to lose [Kim and Park] and tried very hard to keep them with offers for large and significant salary increases. 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.”

The two actors aren’t the first ones to stage a holdout because of equal pay issues. Emmy Rossum, who stars in Shameless, recently fought Warner Bros. for equal pay to co-star William H. Macy—and won.

But this recent flap comes at a time when the TV and film industries have come under fire for a lack of diversity on both sides of the camera.