Fired ‘CSI’ actor says he overslept on workday

Fired “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation” actor George Eads says he wasn’t staging a salary holdout when he missed work — he overslept.

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.

“They think it’s about money, and it’s not,” Eads said. “I overslept… . I woke up white as a sheet 3 1/2 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.

“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.”

Eads said he had apologized to CBS and hoped to be back at work on “CSI” soon.

“I want all this to work out. ‘CSI’ is a part of who I am,” he said.

The network had no immediate comment.