2 Asian-American Actors Leave ‘Hawaii Five-0’ Amid Reports of Unequal Pay
By JOHN KOBLINJULY 6, 2017
CBS has been on the defensive this week as it deals with a simmering controversy surrounding
the departures of two Asian-American actors from its police procedural show “Hawaii Five-0.”
The two stars, Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, decided to leave the show after they were unable to agree to terms on new contracts — prompting speculation
that they left because they would not be earning as much as their white co-stars.
“Unfortunately, the racial hierarchy established in the original 1968-1980 series remained intact in the 2010 reboot: Two white stars on top, two Asian/Pacific Islander stars on bottom,” said Guy Aoki,
the founding president of the Media Action Network for Asian-Americans, who also criticized the network for not including more actors of Asian or Pacific Islander descent in the show’s cast.
George Takei, an actor of Japanese descent who has made appearances on both the revived “Hawaii Five-0” and the original series, noted
that Hawaii is home to a large Asian-American population and called CBS’s inability to get a deal done with the two actors “sad.”
“It’s very unfortunate that CBS couldn’t recognize their value to the show that’s set in Hawaii,” he said in a telephone interview
Mr. Kim stopped short of saying that unequal pay had been the reason for his departure,
but he suggested as much in the post, writing, “The path to equality is rarely easy.”
In a statement shortly afterward, CBS said that both cast members “have been important
and valued members” of the show and said that they had been offered hefty raises.