After reports about Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park quitting "Hawaii Five-0" over pay inequality, the network and producers at CBS Television Studios say that they offered "significant salary increases" to the Asian actors.
The network said they could not bump Kim and Park up to the same deals as their co-stars.
Kim and Park were both original series regulars on the procedural's first seven seasons.
They made the decision to leave the series ahead of its upcoming eighth season after the network and producers CBS Television Studios could not offer them the same deals as white co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan, reports hollywoodreporter.com.
"Daniel and Grace have been important and valued members of 'Hawaii Five-0' for seven seasons," CBS said on Wednesday in a statement.
The note further read: "We did not want to lose them 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."
In a post on his Facebook page, Kim said that he wanted to return for the eighth season, but after asking for salary parity with co-stars O'Loughlin and Caan, CBS and CBS Television Studios could not come to terms that worked for both stars.
According to hollywoodreporter.com, a source from CBS stressed that supporting actors Kim and Park's contract dispute had nothing to do with race.
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