Actress Kelli Giddish joined the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit squad back in 2011 as Detective Amanda Rollins. Her character has been a mainstay part of the cast since. But as the NBC crime drama prepares to kick off its 24th season this fall, fans learned they will be saying goodbye to Giddish in the very near future. On Instagram, Giddish revealed that she was leaving SVU this season. Her castmate Mariska Hargitay bid her a fond farewell in a post of her own, but reports have arisen that suggest the choice to leave was not Giddish’s.
Some even suggest that Law & Order franchise creator Dick Wolf was dismissing Giddish to hire a younger actress for a smaller paycheck. The slot filled by Giddish, 42, will be replaced by Molly Burnett, 34, who was cast as Detective Grace Muncy weeks before Giddish made her goodbye announcement. Here’s everything we know and that’s been suggested about Giddish’s departure so far.
Kelli Giddish announces she is leaving ‘Law & Order: SVU’ after over a decade
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On August 24, Giddish shared a post on Instagram updating her 464k followers about her career. “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,'” she confirmed. “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.”
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She went on to thank “Dick Wolf, Mariska Hargitay, Warren Leight, 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. 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.” Her co-star Ice T replied with an abundance of hearts and the Wolf Entertainment Instagram profile commented, “Always a member of the Wolfpack. Thank you.” However, Hargitay made Story posts that have raised eyebrows.
Her exit amidst the broader context and swirling rumors
Hargitay first shared a photo of herself and Giddish embracing one another while smiling. It comes from a fan account that captioned the original post, “Once a SVU, Always a SVU You have an amazing soul Kelli.” Back at Harigtay’s Stories, she then shared an Ernest Hemingway quote that reads, “You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.” But what would this suffering look like? Variety published a report, citing “multiple sources” that claim this dismissal was not Giddish’s choice, but rather “a call made from above” meant “to keep the show as up to date and current as possible.” The report specifically points to showrunner David Graziano as the deciding force. In his own post, Graziano said “I’m saddened by her looming exit. It’ll be my lucky day if I ever get to write for her again.” His assertion points to decisions that came from higher up, like from Wolf himself and CBR writes that execs believed Rollins could be written out to cut out Giddish’s paycheck while keeping things fresh. It’s worth noting, though, Hargitay has been with the series since its inception in 1999.
Further rumors say Giddish’s character Rollins was going to be killed off but Hargitay, who had already tried to keep Giddish on the show, put her foot down in opposition. In the broader scheme of Wolf’s many shows, which include FBI, Law & Order, and the One Chicago trio, Giddish is not the only big cast changeup fans can expect. Giddish’s final episode will be season 24, episode nine. Over in the Windy City, Jesse Lee Soffer will be leaving Chicago P.D. as Detective Jay Halstead, after having been with the Intelligence squad since the premise’s introduction in Chicago Fire. What’s more, both Halstead and Rollins had recently reached major romantic milestones with other characters in their respective series; their exits seem poised to cut all of that shockingly short.
Before Soffer, another big cast change came when Sophia Bush, who played Detective Erin Lindsay, left after four seasons. Bush’s exit came after she raised complaints of “abusive behavior,” especially against her co-star Jason Beghe. In the broader context of these shocking exits, and farewell statements fans are calling “cookie cutter,” viewers have concerns all the writing is on the wall pointing to unsavory reasons behind Giddish’s exit.
