CSI: Crime Scene Investigation stars William Petersen (Gil Grissom) and Marg Helgenberger (Catherine Willows) have made their first public comments about the sacking of their co-stars, George Eads (Nick Stokes) and Jorja Fox (Sara Sidle).

Petersen, who also serves as a co-executive producer on CSI, released a statement to the Associated Press (via the Monterey Herald). The actor said he was "very saddened and deeply disappointed that this is the turn of events". He added that he hoped "cooler heads will prevail and everything will be rectified and restored in due course."

In a statement reported by E! Online, Helgenberger said both Eads and Fox were "wonderful actors". "I don't know the details of what is going on, but I hope that it all works itself out very quickly," she said.

Fox and Eads' publicist, Danica Smith, has confirmed that Fox was sacked on Wednesday evening but "could not confirm whether Eads was fired", according to the Associated Press.

Both actors were reportedly sacked by CBS executives Les Moonves and Nancy Tellem this week for breach of contract (story). According to Variety, Fox and Eads, who were reportedly seeking a pay rise, were fired after they failed to send a letter to CBS to assure the network that they would report to the set on the first day of filming.

CBS has yet to make any public comment on the issue. The original reports can be found at the Monterey Herald and Yahoo! News.

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