Over the weekend, Variety confirmed news that Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim, two actors who have been on CBS’ Hawaii Five-0 reboot since the show’s beginning, would not be returning for its eighth season. As we reported a few days ago, the alleged reason for Park and Kim's departure is that the two asked for pay equality with their white costars and an agreement was never reached. After several days of silence, Daniel Dae Kim has finally commented on his leaving the show and his experience with Hollywood’s racial pay gap.
Just a few hours ago, Kim posted a lengthy message on Facebook for all his fans, confirming that he will not be returning for the next season of the show. He wrote, "Though I made myself available to come back, CBS and I weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract, so I made the difficult choice not to continue." In his post, the actor expressed gratitude to the Hawaii Five-0 writers and producers and to CBS for creating the character of Chin Ho Kelly and allowing him to portray Kelly for seven seasons. He said, "As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all, let alone play a well developed, three dimensional character like Chin Ho. I will miss him sincerely. What made him even more special is that he was a representative of a place my family and I so dearly love."
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Kim also left his fans with details about what he would be doing next. His production company, 3AD, is set to air its first show on ABC in the fall. The show is called The Good Doctor, and according to NBC News, it's based on a 2013 Korean medical drama of the same name. Kim ended his note by saying, "though transitions can be difficult, I encourage us all to look beyond the disappointment of this moment to the bigger picture. The path to equality is rarely easy."
Daniel Dae Kim posted his note just a few hours ago, and already, he has received an outpouring of support from fans of his and of Hawaii Five-0. The post has been shared over 1,300 times and has received 3,191 comments, so far.