by Suzanne Kai

July 5, 2017

A year after the 2016 Oscars ceremony host Chris Rock made stereotypical jokes out of the Asian American kids on stage - Asian actors are still fighting for parity and roles.

Actors Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park, co-stars on the CBS series 'Hawaii Five-0' since 2010 asked for equal pay to that of their white co-stars, Alex O'Laughlin and Scott Caan.

According to Variety, CBS' final offer was 10 to 15 percent lower than what O'Loughlin and Caan are paid.

Grace played Kono Kalakaua, and Daniel's character was Chin Ho Kelly. They acted in all of the 168 episodes of the series.

Daniel Dae Kim posted on his Facebook page on July 5, 2017: (excerpt from a longer message to his fans)

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 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...

October 27, 2013

Rumors floating on the web say that Jackie Chan's 101st movie 'Chinese Zodiac' is his last major action comedy, but we hope those rumors are false.

Ryan Pearson, AP Entertainment Writer sheds some hope. He reports that the 59 year old isn't quitting anytime soon, and just completed filming another installment for his "Police Story" franchise, and is in talks to do a movie with his "Rush Hour' co-star Chris Tucker. 

Click here to the movie's trailer:

http://youtu.be/4YtAbUU5jk8

Chan wrote, directed and starred in his action comedy 'Chinese Zodiac' about a team trying to steal some of the bronze statues representing the twelve animals of hte zodiac from the Chinese Palace which were stolen from Beijing in the 1860s.

The film is now in theaters in the U.S., and was released in China last year. Since the movie's release two of the statues were returned to China by the head of Gucci's parent company, Francois Pinault.

Related:

JackieChan.com - Jackie Chan's Official Website

Los Angeles Times (video)

AP Story on Jackie Chan

The Washington Post on Jackie Chan

Photo: Judith Hill, Suzanne Joe Kai, Ben Fong-Torres at the 21st AAJA convention in Los Angeles                                          

Update Oct. 8, 2013  Judith's touring schedule with Josh Groban and official news of her new deal with Sony Music!

From Judith's official enewsletter and website JudithHill.com.

Judith Hill has been tapped by multi-platinum-selling singer, songwriter and actor Josh Groban as support for his fall "In The Round" tour, which kicks off tonight at Taco Bell Arena in Boise, ID. In addition to opening the show, Hill will join Groban during his set for two songs: "The Prayer" and "Remember When It Rains." Judith, who contributed backing vocals to three tracks on Groban's latest album, All That Echoes, will also be playing a series of headline dates this fall. See below for itinerary.

Praised by Rolling Stone for her "stellar powerhouse vocals," Hill has signed with Sony Music. In addition to penning and performing her own...

September 24, 2013

Dubai

As I post this, Ben just arrived to Dubai from California, and had dinner with music producer Quincy Jones.

Ben is in Dubai with Quincy to moderate two seminars at Dubai Music Week, presented by Quincy. It is a mega music event - the region's inaugural music industry trade show, conference and concert series September 24 - 29, 2013. 

The seminar series called "Emirates World Exclusive Quincy Jones Seminars" begins September 24, with Ben moderating a discussion with Quincy Jones, and the multi Grammy award-winning production team behind Michael Jackson's...

New York City

stop. reset., a new play written and directed by Regina Taylor which has performances in The Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre at The Pershing Square Signature Center in New York through September 29, 2013, tackles powerful questions of legacy, identity and survival in a world where the real and the virtual are more closely tied than we think.

Photo by Joan Marcus of Teagle F Bougere as Chris, LaTanya Richardson Jackson as Jan, Donald Sage Mackay as Tim and Michi Barall as Deb in Signature Theatre’s world premiere of Regina Taylor’s stop. reset.

Photo by Lia Chang of Ismael Cruz Cordova in stop. reset, written and directed by Regina Taylor. 

In stop.reset., e-books are outselling printed books, and Alex Ames (Carl Lumbly), the owner of Chicago’s oldest African American book publishing company, is faced with the task of questioning each of his employees, Deb (Michi Barall), Chris (Teagle Bougere), Jan (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) and Tim (Donald Sage MacKay), to determine who is still relevant in a rapidly changing world. When he meets J (Ismael Cruz Cordova), a mysterious youth plugged into the future, Mr. Ames is forced to discover just how far he will go to survive.

Photo by Lia Chang of castmembers LaTanya Richardson Jackson and Michi Barall starring in Regina Taylor’s stop. reset. on September 21, 2013. 

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