As Law & Order: SVU fans react to the news of Kelli Giddish’s imminent departure, a surprising new revelation has come to light.
Variety reported Thursday that the veteran actress had no say in the decision to write the character of Rollins out of the series.
Additionally, the outlet reports that series lead Mariska Hargitay and at least one other producer pushed for the series to keep Giddish on the cast.
It’s unclear why the actress was let go, but “salary negotiations and her future on the show were part of the conversation and, ultimately, a compromise couldn’t be made.”
Showrunner David Graziano is also said to not have had a say in the decision.
Graziano is taking over the series from Warren Leight this season and had to contend with criticism on his social media channels after news of Giddish’s exit was announced.
“You might take a moment to entertain the idea that things are more complex than they appear in a world of emojis and tweets,” he wrote on Giddish’s Instagram page.
“All I’ll say is Kelli has handled this with the most incredibly classy comportment. She is, without a doubt, one of the finest industry professionals I’ve come across in my 24 years of writing for television.”
“I’m saddened by her looming exit. It’ll be my lucky day if I ever get to write for her again.”
“I wanted to address the chatter I’ve seen online and let everyone know that this will, indeed, be my last season on Law & Order: SVU,” Giddish said in a statement of her own this week.
“Playing Rollins has been one of the greatest joys and privileges of my life. I’ve been so fortunate to be a part of the Law & Order family for the last 12 years.”
“There is simply no other character on TV like Rollins. She’s grown and changed, and I have as well. I started on this show when I was in my late 20s and I’m grateful I got to spend so many of my adult years with Rollins in my life.” “
I want to thank Dick Wolf, Mariska Hargitay, Peter Jankowski, NBC, Universal Television, all of my co-stars, every single member on the crew and all the writers here for our incredible work together these last 12 years,” she continued.
“I’m so excited to take all the things I have learned in my time on ‘SVU’ and put them toward everything that’s next to come.”
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Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.