Peter Lenkov, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park
“Hawaii Five-0” EP Peter Lenkov still has so much love for Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park despite the actor’s inaccurate statement about their pay raise. Pictured: Lenkov, Kim and Park speak during the “Hawaii Five-0” panel discussion during Comic-Con 2010 at San Diego Convention Center on July 23, 2010 in San Diego. Getty Images/Frazer Harrison

“Hawaii Five-0” executive producer Peter Lenkov recently slammed Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park’s statements regarding their exit from the CBS series.

On Wednesday, July 5, Kim said that one of the reasons for their exit had to do with their pay. The actor said that he and Park demanded pay parity with their co-stars, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan, but were denied.

On his Facebook account, Kim said that he made himself available to return to the upcoming season of “Hawaii Five-0,” but it didn’t happen because they weren’t able to agree on a new contract. Last week, Variety reported that Kim and Park’s final pay offer was about 10 to 15 percent lower than the per-episode income of O’Loughlin and Caan.

Read: Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park leaving “Hawaii Five-0” after seven seasons

However, Lenkov clarified that there was no truth to Kim’s statement. The exec said that Kim and Park deliberately decided to not extend their contracts for another season. “CBS was extremely generous and proactive in their renegotiation talks. So much so, the actors were getting unprecedented raises, but in the end they chose to move on. No one wanted to see them go – they are irreplaceable,” he said.

The executive producer added that they also considered Park’s return for at least a handful of episodes, but this also did not work out in the end.

On Wednesday, the network released an initial statement (via Deadline) saying that they fought long and hard for Kim and Park to stay in the series. But despite not being able to come to an agreement, Lenkov said that they went their separate ways with the two cast members with so much love and respect for each other.

Meanwhile, CBS has renewed “Hawaii Five-0” for Season 8, and the upcoming episodes will feature a new character named Tani. According to TV Line, the creators of the show are looking for an actress who could give life to the role of a female lifeguard. Tani also happens to be a first-rate candidate at the police academy until she got kicked out for cheating on an exam and punching a police officer.

“Hawaii Five-0” will premiere on CBS on Sept. 19 at 9 p.m. EST.

RELATED STORIES
Facebook