CSI sackings 'for the good of TV'

CSI sackings 'for the good of TV'
Monday 19 July, 2004
BBC News

The firing of two stars from the hit TV series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation over a pay dispute has been defended by the head of the US CBS network.

Leslie Moonves said sacking Jorja Fox and George Eads was intended to end a trend for actors to demand more money even when they are under contract.

Fox and Eads held out for a pay rise and did not turn up for the first day of filming, they were later sacked. They reportedly wanted a raise on their $100,000-per-episode (£53,400) salary.

"There comes a point where we feel a contract is a contract... We all have to look out for the future of the network television business," said Mr Moonves, co-president and co-chief operating officer of CBS' parent company, Viacom.

'Veiled threats'

He said Fox and Eads were five years into seven-year contracts, which had been re-negotiated after two years. He added they had been offered a raise, which was not contractually necessary, but their lawyers made "veiled threats about their not showing up".

Mr Moonves added that the actors' parts had not yet been recast, but CBS was "looking at certain people" and script revisions were being made. Building the cast members Eric Szmanda and Paul Guilfoyle into bigger parts was also a possibility.