Former “Hawaii Five-0” star Grace Park, who left the CBS procedural last year amid uproar over the show’s racial pay disparity, is finally speaking out about her exit.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly ahead of her new ABC drama “A Million Little Things,” Park described her choice to leave the long-running CBS cop show as a matter of “integrity,” but did not directly address the fact that she and co-star Daniel Dae Kim were making less than their white co-stars at the time of their departure.
“I’m grateful for the lessons learned, but I chose what was best for my integrity,” the actress said, explaining that there were “a number of factors” that led to her decision to leave.
Kim previously framed his departure from “Hawaii Five-0” as a matter of “self-worth.”
“It’s possible to be grateful for the opportunity and respectful of the colleagues and the people that I work with, and maintain a steadfast sense of your self-worth,” he said last year, explaining in a Facebook post that he and CBS “weren’t able to agree to terms on a new contract.”
CBS and showrunner Peter Lenkov said at the time that both actors were offered “unprecedented” raises to stay.
“Throughout the whole series, I kept trying to see the best in everybody,” Park told EW. “Would I do it all over again? I wouldn’t be so quick to say yes.”
“I’m good leaving the boys’ club, and I’m hopeful for the future,” Park said. “I just look at this time as something that I went through. I didn’t understand it while I was going through it, but…. You can’t always get back what you lost, but if you made it through, right now is the best time to watch the old structures fall.”