<p id=”par-1_45″><em><a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/tag/law-and-order-svu/”>Law & Order SVU</a> </em>star Kelli Giddish shocked many, including her co-star Ice-T, when she revealed she was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/kelli-giddish-leaving-law-order-svu.html/”>leaving the long-running procedural</a>. Although the rapper was sad to see Giddish go, he gave his on-screen partner a few quick words of encouragement before her departure.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-how-ice-t-reacted-to-kelli-giddish-leaving”>How Ice-T reacted to Kelli Giddish leaving</h2>
<figure class=”wp-block-image size-full” id=”emb-1″><img decoding=”async” src=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/kelli-giddish-ice-t.webp?strip=all&quality=80″ alt=”Kelli Giddish and Ice-T interrogating a suspect in an episode of ‘Law & Order SVU’.” class=”wp-image-3786843″><figcaption class=”wp-element-caption”>Ice-T and Kelli Giddish | Virginia Sherwood / Getty Images</figcaption></figure>
<p id=”par-2_59″>Ice-T has seen many actors come and go on <em>SVU</em>. Still, he admitted that Giddish’s exit couldn’t help but catch him off guard. As detective Amanda Rollins, Giddish was <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-ice-t-taught-kelli-giddish-important-lesson-tv-acting.html/”>paired with Ice-T’s Fin Tutuola</a>, allowing the duo to share plenty of screen time. After 10 years of teaming up, losing Giddish was difficult for the <em>New Jack City </em>star.</p>
<p id=”par-3_33″>“When I heard about it, I called to check on my pulse, like, ‘What’s going on?’ But this is the business we’re in, and they shuffle the deck occasionally,” Ice-T once told <a href=”https://people.com/tv/ice-t-jokes-he-had-to-check-pulse-after-learning-kelli-giddish-was-leaving-law-and-order-special-vicims-unit/” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>People</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-4_58″>The nature of Giddish’s exit, the details still under wraps, was even more confusing. Mariska Hargitay <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/law-order-svu-mariska-hargitay-felt-kelli-giddishs-exit.html/”>tried to prevent Giddish</a> from leaving the show, with no success. Additionally, Ice-T hinted that her departure might not have been entirely up to her. The California native confided that calls from executives ultimately led to Giddish walking away from the role.</p>
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<iframe title=”Fin Checks On Rollins – Law & Order: SVU (Deleted Scene)” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/saHNVp4r3bU?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-5_12″>“It came from the top of the mountain, you know,” he said.</p>
<p id=”par-6_32″>In an interview with <a href=”https://smashinginterviews.com/interviews/actors/ice-t-interview-svu-star-ill-be-there-until-mariska-leaves” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>Smashing</a>, Ice-T received a question about his feelings on Giddish leaving. He remained mum on the details but asserted that Giddish’s resignation might’ve been needed to restructure <em>SVU</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-7_37″>“Don’t ask me why. It’s like they just stack the deck. This is how you keep a show on. They just say, ‘Hey, we want to put new people in and move some things around,’” he said.</p>
<p id=”par-8_32″>But Ice-T also acknowledged the possibility that Giddish might have wanted to pursue other creative endeavors. Something that he supported 100%. Ice-T even encouraged her to shape her career outside of <em>SVU</em>.</p>
<p id=”par-9_71″>“But I love Kelli. We worked together for 10 years solid. I told her to go get an Oscar. Go do something else. One thing about acting is every actor doesn’t get into it to play the same character for the rest of their life. One thing <em>about </em>acting is you get to do this, you get to do a period piece, or whatever. That’s the fun thing about that job,” he said.</p>
<h2 class=”wp-block-heading” id=”h-ice-t-became-one-of-kelli-giddish-s-favorite-people-to-meet”>Ice-T became one of Kelli Giddish’s favorite people to meet</h2>
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<iframe title=”10 Times Rollins Was Straight-Up Savage – Law & Order: SVU” width=”925″ height=”520″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/dgwfQdMWV6w?feature=oembed” frameborder=”0″ allow=”accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share” referrerpolicy=”strict-origin-when-cross-origin” allowfullscreen></iframe>
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<p id=”par-10_36″>Although Ice-T and Giddish couldn’t have been any more different from each other, the duo made a good match. In an interview with <a href=”https://www.huffpost.com/entry/law-and-order-svu-kelli-giddish_n_1469822″ target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>HuffPost</a>, Giddish revealed that she was as taken by Ice-T <a href=”https://www.cheatsheet.com/entertainment/mariska-hargitay-admits-she-was-nervous-to-meet-ice-t-for-the-first-time.html/”>as Hargitay was</a>.</p>
<p id=”par-11_92″>“Well, Ice-T and Coco are my two favorite people I’ve met in the last year. I’m just absolutely in love,” Giddish said. “Ice, he’s got such a huge heart, and anybody that knows him would do anything for the man. And he’s also just who he is, to the end of the line, always. He’s not going to take any shit from anybody. Every day, I come home from work with a quote from Ice that I’m telling my friends. I should be tweeting Ice, like, ‘Here’s Ice-T’s quote of the day.’”</p>
<p id=”par-12_14″>Meanwhile, Ice-T admired Giddish’s efficiency as a performer, which helped make his job easier.</p>
<p id=”par-13_52″>“I learned that Kelli was a very low-maintenance woman, which is a very big compliment. Guys know that. She comes in; knocks it out. No drama, no stress. And that’s a dream because I try to do this with the least amount of effort,” he said in a video posted by <em><a href=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQJXJ4VA8uc&ab_channel=WolfFilmsLawandOrder” target=”_blank” rel=”noreferrer noopener”>WolfFilmsLawandOrder</a></em>.</p>