‘Hawaii Five-0’ Faces New Controversy As Former Assistant Files Harassment Lawsuit, Is Season 8 The Final One?

2017 might be the worst year for Hawaii Five-0. The CBS series has recently suffered some backlash following Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park’s exit over pay inequality. Although the reboot has enjoyed a decent viewership since the premiere of Season 8, the show is facing trouble once again. A former locations assistant has just filed a harassment lawsuit against locations scout Jake Downer as well his father, executive producer Jeffrey Downer.

The harassment lawsuit was filed by Kelly Tolar, who had previously worked on Hawaii Five-0 as an office manager. The former locations assistant claims that Jake Downer had repeatedly called her names and went as far as telling her to commit suicide. Tolar also stated that Jake’s father, Jeffrey Downer, had ignored her complaints about his son, who he defended throughout her ordeal.

Kelly Tolar’s complaint revealed that Jake Downer had harassed her by acting “aggressively, unprofessionally, offensively, abusively and/or in a threatening manner.” The locations scout had reportedly called her “a stupid f**king idiot” and advised her “to kill [herself]” daily. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the harassment went on for the entire year that Tolar worked for Hawaii Five-0.

In the complaint, Tolar also states that she had informed her supervisors about the harassment. Although her superiors had brought up the claims with Jeffrey Downer, the executive producer reportedly defended his son and believed the allegations were “insubstantial, exaggerated or a mere nuisance.” The older Downer had also threatened Tolar’s supervisors by saying somebody should be fired from Hawaii Five-0, “and it was not going to be Jake Downer.”

The harassment lawsuit has been filed against Jake Downer, Jeffrey Downer, CBS, Eye Productions, and Entertainment Partners. This is certainly a more severe situation compared to when the network refused to give Daniel Dae Kim and Grace Park equal pay as Alex O’Loughlin and Scott Caan. When either party was unable to make a deal, Kim and Park decided to leave Hawaii Five-0. The more recent controversy has led to speculations that the series might get canceled and that the eighth season could be the show’s last. CBS has yet to comment on the lawsuit.

Kelly Tolar’s complaint has been remanded to federal court after being filed in Hawaii state court. In the meantime, Hawaii Five-0 Season 8 airs on CBS every Friday night.

[Featured Image by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images]