Law & Order: Special Victims Unit has significantly less Sergeant Fin in its latest season, and Ice-T has revealed why.
The rapper-turned-actor said he initially wondered if he was being let go when he was first told he would appear in nearly half as many episodes as usual.
“It’s just basically business,” he told TMZ on Monday. The long-running Mariska Hargitay-headlining series, now in its 27th season, brought back Kelli Giddish as a series regular. Giddish played detective Amanda Rollins from Season 13 until she was written off the show in the 24th.
Ice-T, who’s played Fin on the series for 27 years, told the outlet that bringing back Giddish—which Hargitay campaigned for—came at a cost to his role. “They brought Kelli back. At the end of the day, they couldn’t keep both of us on both times, as far as budget-wise,” he said, so he was told, “‘We’ll have you come in and out this year.’ Everybody wanted Kelli back.”
Multiple sources told Variety in 2022 that leaving the show was not Giddish’s choice, and that “higher-ups” made the decision. Hargitay publicly stated last year that she disagreed with the decision to let Gillish go. “I have a lot of say on the show, but I didn’t have enough there,” Hargiaty said. “Kelli is my favorite actor to work with.”
Ice-T told TMZ that he was on board with the decision to have Gillish back on the show, and made it clear that he’s sticking around for as long as the franchise will have him. “I am not leaving the show. I am more concerned with going to Season 28. This year, they said, ‘Ice, we’re going to work you a little less.’ Everything was cool with me. I understood.” He still asked, however, “‘Are you getting rid of me?’ They said, ‘No way. We can’t imagine Law and Order without you.”
He concluded, “I’ve been on this show for 27 years. I am not going to say anything negative about this show. They have taken care of me for so long. I’m trying to get to Season 28.”
Some Fin fans are not happy, however.
“I’m kinda glad the fans are upset, because what if I was missing and nobody cared?” he wondered. “That would be something to worry about.”
For now, Ice-T says he’s making good use of the extra time he now has to pursue other projects. “I’m a hustler. You give me some free time, I’ll find a free dime,” he concluded.
