Appearing on the press tour for The Good Doctor as part of ABC’s Television Critics Association panel, actor Daniel Dae Kim made his first public remarks about his exit from CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 following the controversial dismissal of him and co-star Grace Park earlier this year.
The pair, who had been series regulars for seven seasons, were famously let go after CBS Television Studios declined to offer salary parity for the pair that would match their two co-stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan. Kim says he has no ill will toward CBS:
“That was a really important part of my life for seven years, and I’m really grateful to CBS and everyone involved with the show for giving me the opportunity. I’ve known [CBS Entertainment president Kelly] Kelly and [CBS’ senior exec vp programming] Thom Sherman for a while, I met Thom all the way back from the days on Lost.
I know them and I like them, and I’m grateful to them for the words that they said on the panel the other day. That said, it’s possible to be grateful for the opportunity and respectful of the colleagues and the people that I work with and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth.
All good things come to an end. I close that chapter on Hawaii Five-0 and I begin this new chapter on The Good Doctor. And I couldn’t be more excited to be back at ABC where I started my career in earnest and to be working with such incredible people. This is the start of something new, and I’m really grateful for that, too.”
Back in July, a CBS insider stressed Kim and Park’s contract dispute had nothing to do with race and he was offered a raise to come within 2% of what Caan and O’Loughlin make, though that pair also have a cut of the show’s lucrative backend.
Meaghan Rath, Beulah Koale and Ian Anthony Dale have been brought on board as series regulars for season eight.
