Law & Order: SVU's Ice-T Says He Was ‘Blindsided' by Kelli Giddish's Departure, Credits Fans With Bringing Her Back Full-Time in Season 27
'Kelli is dope. Me and her were teammates and partners,' Ice-T told TVLine Tuesday at Raising Cane's in New York City's Times Square. The rapper/actor was there to celebrate National Iced Tea Day (get it?!) in collaboration with the restaurant chain.
More from TVLine
Who's Your Law & Orderverse Dream Team? Choose Your Perfect Squad
And Just Like That EPs Tell All About the Hot New Gardener in Carrie's Life: 'That's Like an Aphrodisiac'
Criminal Minds Video: As JJ Seeks Help, Aimee Garcia Previews 'Intimate' Scenes With a 'Magical' A.J. Cook
He recalled that when Giddish started the show in Season 13, just after original cast member Chris Meloni departed as Det. Stabler, 'I fell in love with Kelli as a person. She's just a sweetheart.'
Giddish's exit as a series regular in December 2022, after her character and Peter Scanavino's Dominick 'Sonny' Carisi Jr. got hitched in a courthouse wedding, was a surprise, he added. 'No one really expected her to leave the show. We got blindsided by that. But the fans said they wanted to see Kelli back, so she's coming back.'
Giddish has recurred on the show in the past few seasons, which is how we know Rollins is now a sergeant working with the New York Police Department's Intelligence Unit. The character most recently showed up in Season 26 to assist SVU on a kidnapping case. Giddish's reinstatement as a regular made series star Mariska Hargitay 'ecstatic,' she recently said.
'She is a formidable actress and an incredibly creative partner and has been such a joy and huge part of the fabric of SVU,' Hargitay added. 'I love her, and I love acting with her and co-creating with her, and it feels like home with her.'
NBC renewed SVU for Season 27 in May. The upcoming season will find the procedural under the supervision of a new showrunner, Michele Fazekas (Gen V) and down two squad members: Octavio Pisano and Juliana Aidén Martinez won't return as Det. Joe Velasco and Det. Kate Silva, respectively.
Press PLAY on the video above to hear Ice-T get excited about Giddish's increased presence in the new season, then hit the comments with your thoughts!
Best of TVLine
Yellowjackets' Tawny Cypress Talks Episode 4's Tai/Van Reunion: 'We're All Worried About Taissa'
Vampire Diaries Turns 10: How Real-Life Plot Twists Shaped Everything From the Love Triangle to the Final Death
Vampire Diaries' Biggest Twists Revisited (and Explained)
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Conservative expert Heather Mac Donald explains 'lawlessness' cycle amid ICE pushback
Mac Donald explains how anti-ICE riots and protests in California tie to larger cultural developments in the United States.
Fox News
16 hours ago
- Fox News
Backstreet Boy claims 'American Dream' is under attack as he battles sheriff over beach trespassers
Brian Littrell just wants the alleged trespassers on his beach to quit playing games. "This is the American dream," the Backstreet Boys singer told Fox News Digital this week. "Like I've worked for three decades, longer than three decades, in the music business to have some sort of honesty and transparency in my music. You know, music is an emotion that brings all kinds of walks of life together for happiness and joy. And so I think I could walk out on the beach and, you know, people would be like, 'Hey, man, it's nice to meet you,' but just keep it moving, like just keep walking, because that beach access doesn't entitle you to a public beach." The 50-year-old recently sued the Walton County Sheriff's Office in Florida for a writ of mandamus, claiming officials aren't doing their part to help keep trespassers off of his private beach. "It's very frustrating, and this has been a humbling experience, I have to say, because [we're] not getting any help, it's not getting anywhere," Littrell admitted. "Hopefully, we'll get some sort of resolve or some sort of communication that will come out of this that will basically draw the line in the sand, no pun intended, where, 'Hey, just keep it moving. This is private.' We don't want any qualms." He added, "So, we're about the truth and the law. It's just that simple." Littrell said that he now fears for his safety in his backyard at the beach home where he's lived for three years. "The frustrating thing is that we're not getting any help, you know, we're not getting any law enforcement down there … and we know the law, because we're taxpayers," he said. "It shouldn't be that difficult." The tipping point for him was a couple of weeks ago. "My wife called 911 three times and nobody showed. Nobody showed at all. We had trespassers on our property. They were filming. They were using our stuff and our equipment, and our beach stuff, and, no, she's not gonna walk out there by herself. And the third time she called 911, the dispatch lady hung up on her. So this is a heartfelt plea for all property owners that you have rights. You know, we have rights just like everybody else." WATCH: BACKSTREET BOYS' BRIAN LITTRELL CLAIMS 'AMERICAN DREAM' IS UNDER ATTACK AS HE BATTLES SHERIFF OVER BEACH TRESPASSERS "So, this is a heartfelt plea for all property owners that you have rights. You know, we have rights just like everybody else." He said the police are trying to protect the public, "but they forget that we are part of the public, too, because we are beachfront owners. So, there just has to be a line in the sand, no pun intended. There has to some sort of line where we have boundaries." The Walton County Sheriff's Office told Fox News Digital it doesn't "comment on pending litigation," adding it "prides itself on handling every situation, call for service, or interaction with professionalism using a customer service approach. This has always been our philosophy and will continue to be moving forward." Peter Ticktin, Littrell's lawyer, told Fox News Digital that they had already won a lawsuit to prove that Brian owned the beach behind his house, but "They're still coming, they're still there, because they have a purpose in mind." Ticktin claimed the alleged trespassers believe that someone who works hard shouldn't necessarily have the right to have their own private beach. "The fact is that if you've got talent, and you work really, really hard, you get to be someplace in this world where you can afford to buy a piece of property, and it's yours," he said. "That's the American dream. And to have these people invade his backyard and then to have the sheriffs come and talk to them and tell them they can stay there only encourages them to do more and more wrong, to the point where they actually are assaulting the security people that had to be hired to be able to protect the property." He added, "They hate entitlement, but they're the ones that are seemingly claiming an entitlement to not only be where they don't belong, but to assault people in the process." Littrell said his American Dream was to own a little beach home "that we could go and enjoy and watch the sunset and take pictures and live out memories." He continued, "I'm in my 50s now … I mean, come on. Like, I want to start slowing down a little bit and I want to start enjoying life and I don't want to make the news for this kind of stuff. It's just, it's kind of frustrating. I want to make news about positive music that's changing the world, because we're still at it. We're still doing great, and that's a blessing. And it's like, just because I work hard for it, it's not entitled to everybody else." Littrell said he had no intention to sell the house. "We have a tiny little piece of paradise that we literally prayed for. I mean, we seriously prayed for a place like this for almost 30 years," he said, adding, "The beach makes you feel small. So, you know, it's a great place to write songs, too. And you feel smaller than life when you go to the beach. You don't feel larger than life. You feel smaller than life. You know, I don't wanna be chased out of an area that I love."
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Boston Globe
Worcester annual Latin American Festival cancelled, political and economic reasons named
Advertisement But recently, Centro, the nonprofit organizing the event, announced they were canceling this year's festival because of economic and political reasons, such as loss of funding and growing tensions over sharing cultures. The festival has been a yearly tradition in Worcester for over three decades, drawing crowds of over 15,000 attendees to the city center. In a statement, CEO of Centro Augustina Velazquez said they were canceling the event's 33rd iteration because 'post-pandemic inflation has doubled the costs' for various items needed to put it on, including infrastructure and security. Artists are also charging more, making the festival more difficult to finance, according to Velazquez. 'Additionally, political tensions—driven by federal policies and public perception—further complicate matters,' Velazquez said. 'While some individuals recognize the valuable efforts municipalities are making, others remain unaware or skeptical. Consequently, this has led to a decrease in community engagement." Advertisement Artists and families like Canales and his daughter were saddened to hear that the festival would not be taking place this year. Yony Avila, a reggaetón singer whose stage name is JK EL Especialista, performed at last year's festival and remembers many vendors selling handcrafted items and people hosting activities, as well as stands dedicated to different Latin American countries. 'It was cool, everyone was having fun and I really liked the way they did it because they had different countries and a lot of information about [the cultures],' said Avila, who is from Honduras. Avila, who heard about the cancellation from the organizers, said he was sorry to hear that the festival would not be taking place this year, and that kids and families would not be able to enjoy sharing and learning about different cultures. Over the past several months, tension over the recent immigration policies has risen in Worcester, Velazquez said that the event was not cancelled due to fear of ICE. 'To those who were unaware of all the details and used harsh words like 'we're afraid of ICE,' I urge you not to act on emotion and to consider all the reasons I've shared,' Velazquez said in the statement. Canales said that his daughter had the opportunity to perform her song in the bachata style, a lively style of Latin dance and music, for the first time on the stage at the Latin American Festival last year, making the experience extra special for them. He hopes that it can continue so other families can experience a similar feeling of connection with different cultures. Advertisement 'From the moment we arrived, everyone involved and part of the organization treated us like we were home. And we were home,' Canales said. Katarina Schmeiszer can be reached at
