Fired ‘CSI’ actor says he overslept
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, July 21, 2004
LOS ANGELES – Fired “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” actor George Eads says he wasn’t staging a salary holdout when he missed work – he overslept.
He hoped what he called a “big misunderstanding” with CBS and its chief, Leslie Moonves, will be resolved by the end of the week and he will be back to work on the hit drama, Eads said Wednesday.
“Yeah, definitely, I look forward to going back,” he told a Television Critics Association meeting. He was on hand to publicize his upcoming TV movie “Evel Knievel,” airing July 30 on TNT.
Eads and “CSI” co-star Jorja Fox were dumped by CBS last week after failing to show up for the start of production on the upcoming fifth season. The network said they had demanded raises beyond their contracts.
The actors reportedly were making $100,000 per episode for the series, which airs about 24 episodes a season.
CBS had no immediate comment on Eads’ remarks, network spokesman Chris Ender said Wednesday. A call to Fox’s publicist was not immediately returned.
“They think it’s about money, and it’s not,” Eads said. “I overslept. … I woke up white as a sheet 31/2 hours after I was supposed to be on the set.”
He called in, said he was on his way and was told, “Don’t bother,” Eads said. The Texas native compared himself to a football star who makes a similar error.
“It’s like I’m the quarterback with the Dallas Cowboys and I overslept the first day of practice,” he said. “I’d expect the coach to have me run hills and run wind sprints until the sun goes down, not, you know, completely fire me.”
