Police chief leaves his office after racist and sexist comments

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Fanwood Police Chief Richard Trigo resigns after racist and sexist comments.

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The police chief in Fanwood, N.J. stepped down after audio surfaced of him making allegedly racist comments about the state's Attorney General, who is Sikh American, and sexist remarks about former an acting county prosecutor, reports My Central Jersey.

A news release from Acting Union County Prosecutor Lyndsay V. Ruotolo said Richard Trigo resigned as the poice chief of Fanwood. N.J., but his attorney said Trigo retired.

According to ABC7, Trigo is allegedly heard calling acting County Prosecutor Park who is Asian American “pretty hot” and says “she got wide ones.”

Park was the first woman and first Asian American to lead the prosecutor’s office.

Trigo also allegedly said about Attorney General Gurbir Grewal “That…guy with the turban? I wanna pull him like a top.”

“Chief Trigo did not resign or quit,” Joshua McMahon, Trigo’s attorney wrote. “Any assertion to the contrary is categorically and demonstrably false. Chief Trigo had previously begun the process to retire on September 1, 2020 and, until that time, elected to take leave to handle a family-related health issue.”

Sunday Read: 'Hawaii Five-0' failed to reflect the real Hawaii

The latest version of 'Hawaii Five-O' will end this season.

By Akemi Tamanaha
ASAM NEWS
For one Asian American activist, Hawaii Five-0’s recent cancellation represents the end of years of trying and often failing to improve the show’s diversity.
Guy Aoki, an activist and media advocate who grew up in Hawaii, spoke with AsAmNews about his decades-long fight to help the cop drama reboot accurately reflect the state of Hawaii, where over 60 percent of its residents are Asian American and Pacific Islanders.

Aoki has spent many years pushing to increase Asian American and Pacific Islander representation on screen. He is the founding president of Media Action Network for Asian Americans (MANAA), a non-profit organization advocating for equitable representation of Asian Americans in media. He is also a founding member of the Asian Pacific American Media Coalition (APAMC), which works with CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox. The networks give APAMC data on the AAPIs they’ve hired each season. APAMC grades each networks’ performance in a number of categories and makes recommendations that are meant to improve representation.

The 1997 'Hawaii Five-O': A Show that Never Came to Be

Aoki’s fight to improve AAPI representation on Hawaii Five-O began with a 1997 continuation of the original show years before the 2011 reboot was developed. The 1997 show was not a reboot of the 1960s Five-O, but rather a continuation of the original story.

The series would retain some original cast members while also adding new leads. By that time, Jack Lord had already retired from acting due to his Alzheimer’s. In early 1997, CBS was casting for the pilot episode of this 1997 series.

According to Aoki, one of the lead descriptions was someone “from Southern California who worked at the FBI, moved to Hawaii and is accepted by the locals.” Another described someone “from California who moved to Hawaii.” The third description asked for someone who “looked like he stepped out of a GQ Magazine.”

Aoki contacted casting directors and asked why Asian Americans couldn’t fill these roles. He was told that the pilot was supposed to be shot in two weeks. In order for CBS to recast, the descriptions would have to be rewritten. This confused Aoki who saw nothing in the casting descriptions that would explicitly exclude Asian Americans from auditioning.

“This is the mindset of these people only seeing authority figures as being White even in a show in Hawaii,” Aoki said.

After raising his concerns, Aoki was granted a meeting with then-CBS President Leslie Moonves and other CBS executives. He praised Moonves for casting a Japanese American police captain in Nash Bridges, a show set in 1990s San Francisco where nearly a third of the population was Asian American. He challenged Moonves to accurately reflect reality in his new shows and Moonves accepted his challenge.

When the pilot aired, however, it starred Gary Busey, Russell Wong and Steven Flynn. Only one Asian American actor had been chosen for a new lead role. The pilot was not picked up.

The 2010 Reboot

Nearly 15 years later, CBS began working on the Hawaii Five-O reboot that viewers across the country now tune in to watch every Friday night.

Aoki got a hold of a script for the reboot in early 2010. He contacted Peter Golden, who was head of casting at CBS and gave him a few suggestions for the lead. He floated names like Jason Scott Lee and Daniel Dae Kim for the role of Chin Ho Kelly. He suggested that perhaps half Japanese American actor Ian Anthony Dale could play McGarrett.

“I said, ‘Look, you have the opportunity to not repeat the racial hierarchy of the original Hawaii Five-O. You don’t have to have two main White actors and the next two be Asian and Pacific Islanders,'” Aoki said. “But that’s exactly what they did.”

Golden and the showrunners cast two White men as their leads: Alex O’Loughlin as Steve McGarrett and Scott Caan, son of James Caan, as Danny Williams. O’Loughlin had previously starred in Moonlight and Three Rivers, two shows for CBS that flopped.

“This just goes to show White actors can fail over and over again and somebody will still give them another chance,” Aoki said. “If you had an Asian American actor starring in two flops with the same network he wouldn’t be given a third chance.”

CBS cast Daniel Dae Kim as Chin Ho Kelly and Grace Park as Kono Kalakaua. Kim had risen to mainstream prominence for his role in the critically acclaimed show Lost. Park had gained popularity for starring in Battlestar Galactica. They cast Aoki’s suggestion Ian Anthony Dale as Kono’s love interest Adam, the son of a Yakuza boss.

According to Aoki, the president said that he considered all four to be the stars of the show. Aoki, however, knew this wasn’t true. The order in which the names were listed reflected the order of the character’s importance Aoki said. He understood that the show would focus on the dynamic between Danny and Steve and the personal, familial lives of both men more than it would for Kim and Park.

Both Kim’s and Park’s true value to CBS was reflected in their 2017 pay dispute. In July 2017, both Kim and Park announced that they were leaving the show after they could not reach an agreement on their contracts. Reports at the time said that Kim and Park were seeking pay parity with their White colleagues O’Loughlin and CAAN. Executives said that both actors were offered “unprecedented raises,” but chose that they both ultimately walk away after seven seasons on Five-0.

Aoki said he was surprised when he heard Kim and Park were demanding equal pay but not surprised that showrunners refused. His goal had always been to subvert the racial hierarchy in casting, which may have prevented the dispute in the first place.

“This would not have been an issue if they had been the stars,” Aoki said.

.Grace Park, left, and Daniel Dae Kim, right, left Hawaii Five-0 amid a pay disparity dispute.

The show added Ian Anthony Dale as a main cast member for Season 8. Up until that season, Dale had only been a recurring cast member who played Kono’s love interest. The show also added Meaghan Rath who is half South Asian and Beulah Koale who is of Samoan descent as main cast members.

It wasn’t just the main cast that concerned Aoki. He says he also struggled to get CBS to improve AAPI representation in more minor roles. During the first few seasons, it added AAPI recurring characters like medical examiner Max (Masi Oka), shrimp truck owner Kamekona (Taylor Wily) and Kamekona’s cousin Flippa (Shawn Mokuahi-Garnett). Oka, however, also left after seven seasons.

While CBS cast a few AAPI actors in recurring roles, Aoki noticed during the debut of the first season that they struggled to incorporate AAPI in certain minor roles. The first two governors of Hawaii, for example, were played by a White woman and a Black man.

The show also struggled to incorporate AAPI guest actors. Often AAPI guest actors were forced to play suspects and villains. Many of those villains were killed and the actors couldn’t be used again because the audience had already seen their faces. Rarely did AAPIs guest star as characters that helped Five-0 solve a case.

After the debut of the first season in the fall of 2010, Aoki contacted Moonves and Golden. They arranged a meeting for October 31, 2010, to discuss the possibility of casting more AAPIs, specifically more AAPIs from Hawaii as guest stars.

The meeting was initially canceled after Aoki sent CBS a letter detailing his concerns. The letter included a column written by Wayne Harada in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that expressed concerns over the way AAPIs were largely cast as villains and suspects. It also included comments from locals expressing similar concerns.

Aoki was told his letter was not well received. Now, Golden wanted him to provide a list of Hawaiian actors who were just as good as someone like Tom Sizemore. At this point, Aoki had not lived in Hawaii for nearly 30 years. He reached out to casting assistants in Hawaii and did his best to create a list. After he provided the list, the meeting went ahead as scheduled.

At the meeting, Aoki says he was mocked for including actors were no longer alive. This frustrated him. Finding and casting AAPI actors, he felt, should be the job of the people actually working on the show. Although his list might have been undermined, Aoki insisted that there were great AAPI actors out there.

“I told them, ‘For every White actor you’re using as a guest star there is an Asian American equivalent who could have done just as well and who would have made it look like this is actually in Hawaii and not Idaho,'” Aoki said.

After the meeting, the show held “a series of panel discussions, headshot workshops and auditions at the University of Hawaii at Manoa” in the summer of 2012. The sessions held at the university were meant to sniff out local talent.

Despite those sessions, Aoki said that in the earlier seasons the patterns continued. In 2013, he wrote about his frustrations in a column for Rafu Shimpo, a Japanese American newspaper based in Los Angeles. Lenkov, he says, read the column and sent Aoki an email defending the showrunners.

In the summer of 2015, Aoki had a conference call with the CBS head of diversity and another person in current programming who was in charge of Five-0. He said he began to see small changes when the sixth season aired that fall.

Still, some things have remained the same. Aoki says he wishes they had cast more AAPI guest stars to assist Five-0 in their investigations.

“And in the history of the show (240 episodes when the series ends), I can only recall one episode where an API guest star tagged along with the team to help catch the bad guy,” Aoki added.

Representation Behind the Camera

As Hollywood struggles to increase minority representation, diversity behind the camera as well as in front of the camera has become a topic of conversation. On Five-0, producers and writers consult with Hawaiian cultural advisors to ensure their scripts are accurate, but Aoki pointed out that the show has hired very few AAPI writers and directors over the years.

“How can you be a network that says you care about diversity and there are several seasons of Hawaii Five-0 where Peter Lenkov did not hire a single Asian American writer or director?” Aoki said. “How hard is that to do?”

Five-0 has hired a few AAPI writers in later seasons, but a large portion of the writing staff is not AAPI. According to IMDB, the people who appear to lead the writing team are Peter Lenkov, Leonard Freeman, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci. These are the only four writers that have been given writing credits for every episode of the show.

Aoki said he once suggested the name of a Hawaiian writer to a member of the Five-0 writing staff at a meeting with CBS showrunners. The Five-0 writer said that the Hawaiian writer could help ensure them make sure they were using the correct Hawaiian words.

“Well, that’s not the only contribution a Hawaiian writer would give to the show,” Aoki said. “He could have added a lot more to the plot. He could have told you a lot more about the attitude of locals towards tourists. There are so many things they could have written about.”

What Diversity Looks Like on Shows Set in Hawaii

CBS has championed Five-0 as an example of diversity. In 2017, Lenkov defended the diversity of the cast after Park and Kim left the show.

“Over our 168 episodes, Hawaii Five-0 has and will continue to showcase one of the most diverse casts on TV: Chi McBride, Jorge Garcia, Mark Dacascos, Ian Anthony Dale, Will Yun Lee, Masai Oka, Dennis Chun, Taylor Wily, Shawn Garnett, Kimee Balmilero, Kekoa Kekumano, Shawn Anthony Thomsen, as well as Daniel and Grace … all of these great talents regulars or recurring,” Lenkov said in a statement he posted on Twitter. I’m proud of that roster and of our show.”

Five-0’s AAPI representation is unprecedented when compared to several other network television shows. But Five-0 is also a show set in Hawaii where over 60 percent of residents are Asian American and Pacific Islanders. What may seem like an “overabundance” of AAPIs to mainland viewers is very much the norm in Hawaii.

So it’s natural that people like Aoki, who grew up in Hawaii, might be frustrated when they see White men running the show in front of and behind the camera.

“Look I grew up in Hilo Hawaii,” Aoki said. “The mayor was Japanese American. The head judge was Japanese American. The civil defense head was Korean American. In reality, we run the state. To constantly have White guys running the show is just patronizing and really an insult because the reality is we are in charge of the state.”

Aoki, however, also pointed out that CBS is currently bungling another opportunity to create a network television show that reflects the diversity of Hawaii. In 2018, CBS aired the first season of a Magnum P.I. reboot, which is set in Hawaii.

The new Magnum P.I. is also being produced by Lenkov. Aoki says that when the show announced initial casting, none of the four leads were AAPI. Later, they added AAPI cast members Amy Hill and Tim Kang.

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The original 'Hawaii Five-O' starred James MacArthur and Jack Lord.

Diversity at CBS

CBS has had a diversity problem that extends beyond Hawaii Five-0 and Magnum P.I. Last year former manager of CBS Entertainment Diversity and Inclusion Whitney Davis wrote an open letter to CBS about its “white problem,” which was published in Variety. Davis published the letter in April 2019 after she decided to leave CBS upon reflecting on the company’s lack of diversity.

As a member of the Diversity and Inclusion department, in her letter, Davis alleged that she did not believe Golden was committed to casting minority performers.

“It is my opinion that Peter Golden doesn’t find minority performers to be as talented as White actors,” Davis wrote. “He continues to reject the outstanding talent from the showcase because they aren’t good enough, they’re too green or they aren’t “right” for CBS.”

In 2016, minority advocates criticized CBS for its nearly all-white programming. Casting executives decided to bring in 12 performers of color they had carefully selected to do workshops and screentests. Davis says that Golden expressed disappointment that none of the performers “popped.”

“Two years later, one of the participants, KiKi Layne, is the star of Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, for which she has received rave reviews,” Davis wrote.

Davis concluded her letter by asking CBS to make strides towards improving diversity within the network. Aoki expressed similar sentiments.

“It comes down to not that we don’t have enough talented people of color actors it’s the people at the networks or at the movie studios who decide to use them not,” Aoki said.

Golden and Moonves, two of the men who played key roles in Aoki’s long saga with CBS, are no longer with the network. Moonves announced his resignation in September 2018 after following numerous sexual harassment and abuse allegations.

In May 2019, Golden stepped down as head of casting after complaints from CBS workers like Davis and other complaints made against him surfaced during the Moonves sexual misconduct investigations. Golden had worked as a casting executive at CBS since 1996.

A changing of the old guard might bring new opportunities. Aoki hopes that one-day network executives will produce a show set in Hawaii with an AAPI star.

“Moving forward, this is a challenge that CBS — and all the networks, for that matter — must reflect upon and take steps to correct,” Aoki said.

Grace Park opens up about her departure from 'Hawaii Five-0'

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons License 2

Grace Park, right, and Daniel Dae Kim were on a panel  at ComicCon in 2010.

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ASIAN AMERICAN STARS Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim made headlines last year, after they announced they’d both be leaving the show Hawaii Five-O because of contract disagreements with CBS.

It was reported that both Kim and Park were paid less for their main roles compared to their white male costars, Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan. According to Variety, both Korean American actors had been offered up to 15 percent less.

In his statement, Kim described his decision as a “difficult” departure — especially since he was playing one of the few well-developed Asian American characters on television.

Park didn’t release a similar statement explaining the end of her contract. When she took a long leave of absence from the show, its executive producer Peter Lenkov, tweeted that Park had been away from her family for seven years and was visiting them.

Only in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly promoting her new show, A Million Little Things, did Park finally discuss her decision to leave — which appear to have been on rocky terms. 

She also called out showrunner and producer Peter Lenkov for his misleading tweet: “I let him know, ‘That wasn’t cool that you made a statement on my behalf.’… I know he did it to be helpful, and I care about Peter as a person, but I didn’t leave for that reason,” she said.

As for why she kept quiet for so long? “The whole situation was just a bit too charged for me,” she said. “There were a number of factors spanning the show that affected the non-renewal of my contract,” she says slowly, carefully choosing her words. 

“I’m grateful for the lessons learned, but I chose what was best for my integrity.”

Hawaii Five-0 adds new AAPI character

Christine Ko

HAWAII FIVE-0, still sensitive about the departure of popular  stars Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, is adding another AAPI actor to its cast.

Christine Ko, most recently from the short-lived The Great Indoors, has booked a recurring role on the long-running cops-and-robbers series.

Ko will play the part of Jessie, a recently freed ex-convict whom Adam, played by Anthony Dale, recruits to help him with his newly formed special task force to take down the criminal gangs in the island state.

Ko joins other new season 8 additions including Indian/Canadian Meaghan Rath and Pacific Islander Beulah Koale. Dale, a Japanese/American had his role promoted to regular status this season as well.

The cast changes were in response to Kim's and Park's departure over a pay-disparity dispute. CBS said that the two Korean/American actors were given substantial raises but still fell short of their white co-stars.

(Kim later told reporters that walking away from Hawaii Five-0 after seven seasons was about maintaining a “steadfast sense of your self-worth.”)

RELATED: Hawaii Five uh-oh

Their departure along with Masi Oka's exit earlier in Season 7, drew an online outcry from the AAPI community and industry media. It seemed incongruous to have a series based on Hawaii where AAPI are in the majority not reflect the demographics.

Hawaii Five-0 airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET on CBS. Ko’s first episode is slated for Jan. 19.

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'Hawaii Five-0' still sensitive over departure of AAPI stars

Hawaii Five-0's promo posters treated the four leads equally, but not when negotiating salaries.

'HAWAII FIVE-0' executive producer Peter Lenkob said that he was shocked that the show was accused of being anti-diversity because of the departure of its two Asian/American stars.

“People misinterpreted how it went down, and that’s a little bit of a shame because I don’t think people had all the information,” Lenkob told The Wrap. “You can’t watch the show and say that we’re not a diversity-forward show at all. I mean, you just look at the poster for the core four that started the show, you’d see it right there.”

In the interview, he kept using the term "diversity-forward" describing the show's commitment to reflect the population of Hawaii, which is majority AAPI.

Lenkob said that Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park were already planning to leave the show even before contract talks began.

CBS issued a statement during the summer that Kim and Park were leaving despite being offered “large and significant salary increases.” But Kim's Facebook post gave the impression that it was more than just money when he wrote in his farewell message, “The path to equality is rarely easy.”

In the interview, he said it was decided not to "kill off" the characters of Kim and Park to leave open the possibility of their return. 

"It’s up to them," he said. "All they have to do is pick up a phone."

In an interview with NBC promoting The Good Doctor for which he is executive producer, Kim said:

"('Hawaii Five-0') was a really important part of my life for seven years," Kim said. "I'm really grateful to CBS and everyone involved in the show for the opportunity. ... That said, it's possible to be grateful for the opportunity and have respect for your colleagues and still maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth. And all good things come to an end. I closed that chapter on 'Hawaii Five-0' and I begin this new chapter on 'The Good Doctor.'"

The thing about Lenkob's statement is that it is a typical response of someone who just doesn't get it.

People of color are not props who are included just to demonstrate diversity. Without equity and respect, talking about diversity rings hollow.

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CBS still struggling with diversity and inclusion

Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim left 'Hawaii Five-0.'

CBS is still being dogged about questions of diversity and inclusion after the controversial departure of two prominent Asian/American actors from Hawaii Five-0.

Korean/Americans Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, who were both series regulars from the beginning of the series, made the decision to leave the series ahead of its upcoming eighth season after the network and producers CBS Television Studios did not offer them the same deals as white co-stars Alex O'Loughlin and Scott Caan.

Since their exits were announced just before the July 4th weekend, the network insists the decision not to treat Kim and Park equally with their white co-stars, was not based on race. The network's attempts to explain what happened and why the two AAPI actors left the successful Hawaii-based series still sound hollow.

CBS has tried to dampen the outcry by replacing Kim and Park with three other AAPI actors and elevating three Hawaiian/Americans to regular cast members.

RELATED: 

• Hawaii Five-0 announces AAPI replacements
• Hawaii Five-0 bolsters its AAPI cast 

Kim, said he grateful for his time on Hawaii Five-0 and respected the people he worked with in front and behind the camera. "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," Kim told reporters Sunday (July 6) at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour, where he was supporting ABC's The Good Doctor, in which he acts as executive producer.

In a note on his Facebook page, Kim thanked fans, the cast, crew and creative team and singled out how important playing Chin Ho was to him: "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. … The path to equality is rarely easy."

CBS Entertainment president Kelly Kahl said at the Television Critics Association press tour on last week and senior executive vice president Thom Sherman were hammered on the network's lack of inclusive casting and male-dominated lineup issues during their time before the press at TCA. "We are absolutely moving in the right direction," Kahl said, citing a 60 percent lift in non-white series regulars and ongoing efforts to include more people of color behind the scenes. 

One of the TV critics noted the absence of a female-fronted series on the network, Sherman explained that it was not for a lack of trying. "CBS did develop female lead shows last year," he said. "The way things turned out, those pilots were felt not to be as good as the other shows that were picked up."

Another reminded the execs that multiple CBS series, including the passed-over drama pilot Mission Control, were written with diverse leads, but then cast with white actors in the starring roles. Sherman reminded the audience that the show was cast before he and Kahl were in their current roles. 

One of the problems might be with CBS casting department, which is whiter than the shows being aired.  A reporter revealed that the network's casting departments in L.A. and New York are all white, which surprised many of the critics in the room. Asked to explain, Sherman offered, a bit lamely, that the departments have "been together for a long time," but he added that it is something the network is "looking at."

"We are making progress," insisted Kahl.

“We can debate the pace of the change, but there is change happening at CBS,” Kahl said, noting an overall uptick in diverse series regulars in recent years. “Every single drama on our air has at least one diverse regular character.”

Gee, thanks. I guess we're supposed be grateful for that.

To be fair ...

Perhaps Kahl and Sherman should try connecting with the corporation's efforts to diversify its work force. It has launched its Diversity Initiative, which it launched in 2016 in an effort to find actors, comedians, writers and behind-the-camera talent to nurture and train in their careers.

The CBS Corporation Diversity Council dedicates its time and effort to assist the CBS Corporation to meet its goals in Diversity and Inclusion in both the letter and the spirit of those goals. In so doing, it supports and strengthens efforts companywide to:

• Build representation of diverse groups throughout our workforce at every level
• Identify the best practices from across divisions that help build the careers of diverse employees and work to communicate the benefit of those practices to implement them companywide
• Continue the process of identifying diverse suppliers to build their ongoing role in the provision of goods and services to the company
• Strengthen the dialogue across the corporation around the topics of Diversity and Inclusion – building bridges between divisions, corporate groups and employee groups devoted to this important topic
• Provide outreach to the communities we serve through employee engagement, partnerships, mentoring and informational forums
• Enhance and build robust communications vehicles centering on diversity efforts, outreach and initiatives

Here are two CBS employees on diversity:

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'Hawaii Five-0' bolsters its AAPI cast

Fan favorite Taylor Wily's role will increase in Hawaii Five-0

Kimee Balmilero

APPARENTLY still feeling the brunt of outrage when Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left Hawaii Five-0, the show's producers announced that recurring cast members Taylor Wily, Kimee Balmilero and Dennis Chun were elevated to regular  cast members.

Beth Haiken, vice president of CBS Entertainment Communications, confirmed the change in status to the Star-Advertiser.

Dennis Chun

The upgrade of the three, plus the addition of three new characters played by AAPI actors Anthony Dale, Meaghan Rath and Beulah Koale, increases the presence of AAPI characters 200 percent.

RELATED: Hawaii Five-0 names its AAPI replacements

Wily, who portrays Kemekona, is of Samoan descent and hails from Laie. Balmilero, who plays Dr. Noelani Cunha, is of Filipino descent is from Kaneohe.

Chun, who plays the role of Sgt. Duke Lukela, also grew up in Hawaii. He is the son of Kam Fong, who played Chin Ho Kelly in the original Hawaii Five-0.

When Park and Kim left the show after seven seasons, criticism of the show raised the issue that the series didn't reflect the true composition of the many peoples of Hawaii because it focused on the two white characters played by Alex O'Laughlin and Scott Caan.

With the producers talk about ohana and claims that race had nothing to do with Kim and Park's departures, hopefully there will be an increase in storylines featuring the new AAPI characters. Diversity is getting cast, but inclusion is getting a back-story.

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Hawaii Five-0: CBS announces replacements for Kim and Park

New to Hawaii Five-0: BEaule Koaala, Meaghan Rath and Anthony Dale.

THREE LEAVE, THREE COME IN: When Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park left Hawaii Five-0 coupled with the earlier departure of recurring regular Masi Oka, CBS had three roles to fill and a huge PR problem to overcome.

Hawaii Five-0 producers today (July 19) announced new cast members to replace the three Asian/American and Pacific Island actors who left, Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park and Masi Oka.

After being roundly crushed in the media and social media for their shoddy handling of the AAPI stars, it was not surprising that the three new cast members are Asian/American and Pacific Islander: Ian Anthony Dale is half-Japanese, Meaghan Rath is half-South Asian and Beulah Koale is of Samoan descent.

RELATED:

• Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park leave 'Hawaii Five-0'
• Aloha frm Daniel Dae Kim
• Hawaii Five-Uh-oh

Dale has recurred on Hawaii Five-0 since season two as the husband to Park’s Kono — Adam Noshimuri, a former Yakuza and trusted resource for the team who will now be recruited by McGarrett (Alex O’Loughlin) to work for Five-0. The casting keeps Dale in the CBS family after his lead role on the network’s little-watched summer drama Salvation. He is also starring in this summer's sci-fi show Salvation.

Rath (Being Human, Rogue, New Girl) will play Tani Rey, who McGarrett recruits after finding her working as a lifeguard at a hotel pool after she was kicked out of the Police Academy, despite being a first-rate candidate.

Koale (the upcoming Thank You For Your Service) will portray Junior Reigns, a former Navy SEAL who just returned from serving his country and asks McGarrett, a fellow SEAL, for a job, hoping to repurpose his skills as a member of Five-0.

Aloha, (from left) Daniel Dae Kim, Masi Oka and Grace Park. 

The absence of the characters played by Kim and Park, Chin Ho Kelly and Kona Kalakaua will be explained in the show's season 8 premiere in September.

CBS said that Kim and Park were offered "substantial raises," but even with the raises, they were still not on parr with their costars, who also were receiving a portion of the profits of the show's profits and revenue from reruns, which is basically offering them a lifetime revenue stream.

Kim and Park could easily have accepted the contract terms and lived a comfortable life, but at some point they decided to take a stand. While Kim has been outspoken about the need for representation in the entertainment industry, Park has yet to issue a statement and has remained silent since her departure was announced.

On his Facebook page, Kim issued a statement thanking his fans and CBS. "As an Asian American actor, I know first-hand how difficult it is to find opportunities at all," later adding, "The path to equality is rarely easy."

Costar Oka, who decided to leave the show in January, emailed a statement to NPR:

"I was as saddened as anyone to learn of Daniel and Grace leaving Hawaii Five-0 but I, probably more so than most, understand their reason for doing so. Sometimes you have to draw the line in the sand for something you believe in and something for which you stand. While pay equality was not my personal primary decision to leave ... I support [Kim] and [Park] in their decision to stand up for what they believe is right."

The Kim/Park departures also put a spotlight on CBS paltry efforts to reflect America and the tendency for the white decision makers to always put white characters in the lead and - if we're lucky - actors of color playing second fiddle.

Of CBS new shows being presented this fall, only one - S.W.A.T. - will feature an actor of color in a lead role. No women will headline a new show.

Dale, Rath and Koale are all talented actors and I wish them well. CBS and the show's producers think that replacing the departing actors might placate Hawaii Five-0's critics and dampen the uproar and stem a growing movement to boycott the show. What the CBS execs must learn is that the issue wasn't simple a salary dispute. It was about respect and equality.

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More fallout from Grace Park's and Daniel Dae Kim's walking away from 'Hawaii Five-0'

Ins Choi performs a poem in honor of the stancce taken by Grace Park and Daniel Dae Kim.

THE UNCEREMONIOUS DEPARTURE from Hawaii Five-0 of two of television's most prominent Asian/American actors  continues to be felt throughout the entertainment industry. 

Attempts to reduce the controversy to a simple matter of money have only served to act as fuel to the fire.

“This issue goes beyond compensation,” read a statement from the Council of Korean Americans. “It highlights the ongoing problem of lack of diversity in Hollywood and that people of color, especially Asians, are considered peripheral, second-class and disposable.”

The CKA announced on Friday (July 7) that it has asked its constituents to place phone calls to CBS Television Studios president David Stapf and head of drama development Bryan Seabury to voice complaints over contract negotiations that led the two actors to leave the cop procedural.

RELATED:

• Hawaii Five Uh-oh
• Daniel Dae Kim says 'Aloha' to Hawaii Five-0'

The headline of a column by Variety critic Sonia Saraiya read "CBS made the wrong call on Daniel Dae Kim, Grace Park."

"Asian/Americans already face many issues in Hollywood, including typecasting and whitewashing.," said Rep. Grace Meng, D-NY. "The entertainment industry continues to struggle with accurately portraying Asian American stories and including diverse characters. Not paying artists fairly further increases these problems by putting up barriers for Asian American performers to break through in the industry. I call upon Hollywood studios and producers to address pay inequity, offensive stereotypes, and lack of Asian American representation on and off screen.”

The stance taken by Park and Kim may have ramifications beyond the entertainment world. Their real-life stand makes them even more real role models than being just characters on a show could.

The two Asian/American actors' acts of defiance or standing up for themselves might serve as role models for those who see very few examples of assertive Asian/Americans on the big or small Hollywood screens, a problem described in Self by Nancy Wang Yuen. They can also be inspirational for other Asian/Americans, women and other minorities who face pay equity issues in other lines of work such as in the high-tech industry or in the field of medicine. 

Ins Choi — the playwright and star of the Off Broadway play Kim’s Convenience — performed his poem “Mine Eyes Are Lean” after the show. Part of the production’s Soulpepper Cabaret series, the spoken-word poetry was dedicated to Kim and Park, as Choi recounted his history of auditioning for parts as an Asian actor.

This video was taken by New York theater videographer Howard Sherman. 

Hawaii Five- uh-oh: Reactions pour in, CBS on the defensive

CBS

Promotional material for Hawaii Five=0 always featured the four actors together.

THE DEPARTURE of Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park from the popular Hawaii Five-0 TV series continues to grow more heated because there's more at stake than failed contract talks.
With the announcement of the departure of two stars on Hawaii Five-0 at the beginning of a long July 4th weekend, it took a while for the news to percolate throughout the AAPI community.

Now that everybody has heard about the high profile Asian/American stars leaving the popular cops & robbers series, we're getting a strong reaction with the "B" word being bantered about.

"On my social media fees, people are saying, 'Boycott,'" says entertainment law attorney Daniel M. Mayeda.

In a lengthy Facebook post yesterday, Kim said, "The path to equality is never easy." 

After an initial press release last week announcing the separation in which CBS praised the two actors, the continuing debate prompted the network to issue another press release  today (July 6) explaining that Kim was offered pay only a few percentage points below the two white costars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan.

Park, who negotiated separately, was also given a substantial raise, said CBS.

LA Weekly reported: "This production has no affinity for the people of Hawaii or for Asian Pacific Islanders," says Guy Aoki, founder of the Media Action Network for Asian-Americans. Without Kim and Park, "It's simply not Hawaii," he says.

"Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park are exceptional actors and their departure from Hawaii Five-0 is truly unfortunate," Stephen Gong, executive director of the Center for Asian-American Media, said via email. "Now more than ever, we need more equity and diversity that truly represents the American experience in front of and behind the camera."

Variety shared some  of the details in thecontract talks with its stars:

"Industry sources said O'Loughlin and Caan are making about $200,000 per episode apiece for the upcoming eighth season of the show, produced by CBS Television Studios. A source close to the situation said CBS' last per-episode salary offer to Kim was about $5,000 apart from the two lead actors, and CBS offered to set a new overall deal with Kim's 3AD production banner. However, sources close to Kim said the differential was more significant. 

The dispute on the difference in compensation levels may hinge on the fact that O'Loughlin and Caan have a small share of the backend profits of the show. 'Hawaii Five-0' commanded a lucrative $2 million-per-episode cable syndication deal with TNT in 2011, although the show turned out to be a lackluster performer for the cabler. It remains a successful property for CBS in international markets — all of which means O'Loughlin and Caan's profit participation stakes probably plump up their take-home pay considerably. 

Park, meanwhile, was said to have sought a deal for less than half of a full season's worth of episodes, which would have been a financially challenging prospect for the network at the salary that she sought. 'Hawaii Five-0' delivered some 25 episodes in its most recent season.

Although technically, Kim and Park could be listed as supporting players, the promotional material for the show implies that the four stars are a team. In acting parlance, they're an ensemble. For a state such as Hawaii where AAPI people are in the majority, it would be a huge oversight (not to mention, insult) to leave out that cultural aspect of the island state.

RELATED: Daniel Dae Kim says 'Aloha' to Hawaii Five-0

Among the networks, CBS has come under fire for being the least inclusive and despite executives saying that they need to better in having a more diverse product. However, in the six new shows to be introduced this fall, all six are led by white males. Variety's TV critic Sonia Suraiya concluded, "Apparently CBS is still finding it hard at times to put its money where its mouth is."

After the kerfuffle caused by Kim and Park's departure, I expect that any day now, CBS will introduce a pair of actors to replace the fan favorites. No doubt, at last one, and perhaps both, will be AAPI actors.

A role on Hawaii Five-0 will be a great opportunity for any new AAPI actor seeking to break into the entertainment business. Unfortunately, their good fortune will come at the expense of two of television's most prominent and iconic Asian/American actors.

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'Aloha' from Daniel Dae Kim; what the future holds for him

Daniel Dae Kim: 'Hang loose, brah!'

ALOHA mean hello and goodbye. For actor Daniel Dae Kim, it's goodbye to a TV show that has made him a household face for the past seven years, and hello to a creative future in which he has more control.

Kim posted a farewell message today (July 5) on his Facebook page to fans of Hawaii Five-0 after news came about that he and fellow Korean/American actress Grace Park would be leaving the hit CBS show.

Both actors have starred in the 2010 reboot of the 1968 show since its premiered, but neither was able to reach an acceptable deal with the network for the next season. The final offer made to the actors from CBS was reportedly 10 to 15 percent lower than co-stars Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan earn, according to Variety.

RELATED: Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park leaving Hawaii Five-0

Always the consummate professional, the tone of Kim's message was one of regret at leaving his Hawaii Five-0 family and hopefulness for the future. Not a drop of bitterness or rancor over the failed attempt to get equal compensation as his two white co-stars. But he did referenced the pay disagreement. "The path to equality is never easy," he said.

Here is Kim's full Facebook posting:

A MESSAGE TO MY FANS ABOUT HAWAII 5-0
Sorry for the delay in hearing from me, but like you I’m sure, my July 4th holiday was busy with friends and family. I’m back now and didn’t want to let any more time go by without reaching out. By now many of you have heard the news, and I’m sad to say it is true. I will not be returning to Hawaii Five-0 when production starts next week. 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.  

As sad as it feels to say goodbye, what I feel most is gratitude. I am so deeply thankful to our crew, writers and everyone associated with the show – and especially the cast, who have been nothing but supportive through this entire process. They and the crew have been my second family for seven years and I wish them nothing but success for season 8 - and beyond. 

I also want to say to thank you to Peter Lenkov, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci and everyone at CBS. I will always be grateful for their faith in me to bring Chin Ho Kelly to life. 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. It has been nothing short of an honor to be able to showcase the beauty and people of Hawaii every week, and I couldn’t be prouder to call these islands home. To my local community, mahalo nui loa. 

Finally, I want to thank all of you, the fans. I’ve read your messages and I can’t tell you how much they’ve meant to me. I never, ever forget that YOU are the reason Hawaii Five-0 is the success that it is, and interacting with you online and in person around the world(!) has been one of the greatest joys of this entire experience. I’m so sorry we won’t be continuing this journey together. 

I’ll end by saying that 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. But I hope you can be excited for the future. I am. 5-0 continues on after one of its strongest seasons. I’ve got new acting projects on the horizon, and as a producer, my company, 3AD, has its first show, THE GOOD DOCTOR, set to air this fall on ABC. I hope you’ll tune in. There’s a lot to look forward to and I’ll be sure to share it with you. In the meantime, 

Aloha, thank you and Happy Independence Day!
-DDK

Taken at face value, this is the equivalent of "not burning the bridges behind you." 

The AAPI actors' request for equal pay comes at a time in Hollywood when women have begun to exert their power in two high-profile cases. Recently, actresses Robin Wright in House of Cards and Emmy Rossum of Shameless were successful in getting equal pay as their male co-stars in negotiations that made news because of equal-pay-for-equal-work is still an evolving issue.

Asian Americans can be heroes, too. Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park played cops in  'Hawaii Five-0'

It makes one wonder if there's more to the story behind the story of Kim's and Park's contract talks.  “The harsh reality of being an actor is that it’s hard to make a living, and that puts actors of color in a very difficult position,” Kim told the New York Times last year.
Asian/American actors know how difficult and rare it is to get roles in American movies and television beyond the stereotypes and tokens. Kim's role as Chin Ho Kelly is one of the few that was more than just window dressing. In Kelly we see a three-dimensional character who through seven seasons has had to deal with love and tragedy, express a sense of humor and still be tough enough to take chances and deal with the bad guys.

In other words - Kelly was a fully-rounded human being, not a caricature, not a stereotype, not an "other."

In the last few years, with the controversy sparked by #OscarsSoWhite, whitewashing and yellow facing, like several other AAPI actors, Kim has been more outspoken in the lack of inclusion in Hollywood.

For Kim, he has often stated that AAPI actors and other creatives need to take the next step themselves rather than wait for the mainstream decision-makers change their minds or hand him a role. 

True to his words, Kim is currently producing his own show, The Good Doctor. Through his own production company, Kim is excited about carving out space for a more diverse group of actors and stories. 

He started working on The Good Doctor, he said, because Asian-Americans "were waiting for a space that never came," he told NBC. 

Now that he is producing his own material, Kim said he can "create worlds from the ground up. How I envision them. How I would populate them." But, he said, that also means the shape of the obstacles he faces has changed. He said that when you're a young actor, "you see systemic racism as being out there in the ether." These days, he said, he is looking at it face to face when he works directly with people to produce, write and cast the work he's involved with.


Kim added that despite the obstacles, he thinks Asian-American actors need to be prepared to blow casting directors away. "We like to talk about the ways in which we're overlooked," Kim said. "Our responsibility is to be good at what we do. ... It's important for us not to ask for charity."

For Kim, the effort to diversify starts with the decision-makers being more mindful of their process right from the beginning of the creative process. That includes seeking source material that is original, outside of their own experiences and - at the same time - entertaining.

"It takes a mindfulness because there are so many casting directors who say, ‘Oh, I never really thought of that, but sure,’ when someone who is Asian is brought up as a possible choice for a role," said Kim. "To me, that is a double-edged sword, because on the one hand, I’m glad they are open to the idea, on the other hand, why aren’t they mindful of it from the start? Why do people need to be reminded? Why is a role that shows up in black and white, without any specific ethnicity, assumed to be white?”

“The progress that needs to be made is we need to now start having shows where Asian people are in the lead roles instead of the supporting roles,” said Kim. “I really look forward to the day when no one even thinks about the racial diversity in a cast because it is so assumed that it could be anyone or anything. I long for the day when that wouldn’t be a question anymore. So we have a long way to go if that’s the goal.”

Because of the still-rare roles for AAPI actors, Kim and Park and the characters they played  had prominent roles in the fight for inclusion and why their contract negotiations held such high interest in the AAPI community.

Now that Kim and Park's departure is a fait accompli, it remains to see what repercussions the act might have on the show. No doubt the producers will try to find AAPI replacements considering that the show takes place in Hawaii and any depiction of that Pacific island state without AAPI people is just not Hawaii.

However, there is one reaction the producers might not have expected. My wife told me, "I'm through with that show. I'm not watching it anymore."

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