Meloni left the show in 2011 after 12 seasons as Elliot Stabler.

Ice-T reflects on Mariska Hargitay becoming ‘number 1’ on SVU set after Christopher Meloni’s departure

Meloni left the show in 2011 after 12 seasons as Elliot Stabler.

By Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale

Shelby Stivale is a senior writer at **. She has been working at EW since July 2026. Her work has previously appeared on Us Weekly and J-14.

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August 22, 2026 8:00 a.m. ET

Mariska Hargitay, Ice T on ‘Law & Order: SVU’. Credit:

Scott Gries/NBC/Courtesy Everett

- Ice-T recalls Mariska Hargitay becoming “number 1” on the *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit *set after Christopher Meloni’s exit.

- Meloni stepped away from his role as Elliot Stabler in 2011 after 12 seasons.

- “It was one of those moments of stepping up,” Hargitay said in a recent interview.

Mariska Hargitay was second fiddle to Christopher Meloni on the *Law & Order: Special Victims Unit** *set — until she wasn’t.

“Chris was number 1,” Ice-T told *Variety** *in Hargitay’s cover story, published earlier this week. “Mariska was number 2.”

When Ice-T joined the NBC procedural as Odafin “Fin” Tutuola, Meloni and Hargitay had one season under their belt as Elliot Stabler and Olivia Benson, respectively.

“Chris had notes on every scene, and he was kind of in charge,” Ice-T continued. “When you have somebody like that on the set, everybody else is comfortable. ‘I’ll let you do it. Less work for me!’ When Chris left, Mariska took that spot.”

Stephanie March, Ice-T, Christopher Meloni, Mariska Hargitay, Dann Florek, Richard Belzer as ‘Law & Order: SVU’ cast.

Craig Blankenhorn/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty

Meloni famously left the show in 2011 after 12 seasons. It’s been widely reported that a dispute over contract negotiations led to his departure. (He has since returned to the show with several guest star appearances starting in 2021. Meloni also led *Law & Order: Organized Crime* for five seasons before it was canceled earlier this year.)

For Hargitay, walking in Meloni’s shoes wasn’t something that came naturally.

“I wasn’t as vocal,” the actress told *Variety *in the profile published on Aug. 19. “It was a question for everybody: Can she hold the show? Can she lead the show? Nobody knew.”

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She added, “It was one of those moments of stepping up. And sometimes you don’t step up until there’s a space.”

Hargitay made it clear that she “did not want” Meloni to leave the show. “I tried so hard to broker that, because it didn’t end great with them,” she added.

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Despite any behind-the-scenes drama that might have occurred, Hargitay and Meloni were able to keep a close friendship. Meloni told *Variety *that they were connected “from the moment that we set eyes on each other” and things have only gotten better.

“The key of it was humor. If you can communicate through humor, then you have a very tight bond. You experiment with how far you can go,” he added. “Sometimes it can be very cutting. Sometimes it can be very close to the bone of truth. And if each person can withstand the shots — we may play rough with each other, but if we can communicate comfortably, we can figure out the other stuff.”

*SVU *producer and Wolf Entertainment president Peter Jankowski hinted in the same interview that Meloni might be back for the show’s forthcoming season. He confirmed that Meloni had met with showrunner Michele Fazekas, but no confirmations have been made just yet.

*Law and Order: SVU* will return to NBC with its 28th season on Thursday, Oct. 8, at 9 p.m. ET.

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Source: “EW Crime”