Kelli Giddish will be exiting “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” during Season 24, TheWrap has confirmed. The actress, who has portrayed Detective Amanda Rollins on the NBC procedural since 2011, will be in the premiere episode of the upcoming season.
“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.’ 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,” the actress said in a statement.
She continued, “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. 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.”
Giddish joined “SVU” in Season 13 alongside Danny Pino following Chris Meloni’s departure. The series also stars Mariska Hargitay as Captain Olivia Benson, Ice-T as Sergeant Fin Tutuola, Peter Scanavino as ADA Sonny Carisi, Octavio Pisano as Joe Velasco and Molly Burnett as Detective Grace Muncy. At the beginning of Season 23, Rollins and Carisi became a couple.
Last week, NBC announced that the new seasons of “Law & Order,” “Law & Order: SVU” and “Law & Order: Organized Crime” will kick off with a three-show crossover. The three-hour story unfolds as follows: “a mysterious young girl is shot in cold blood and Det. Frank Cosgrove (Jeffrey Donovan) teams up with Det. Jalen Shaw (Mehcad Brooks) to track down her killer. Capt. Olivia Benson and Det. Elliot Stabler (Meloni) are called in to help when they realize they have more than a typical homicide case on their hands. After uncovering key evidence, Jack McCoy (Sam Waterston) and ADA Nolan Price (Hugh Dancy) seek justice against an international crime ring, but complications threaten the outcome of their case.”
The upcoming season of “SVU” will be showrun by David Graziano, who is stepping into the role following the departure of Warren Leight, who cited a stressful year dealing with COVID-related production issues as his reasoning.
Season 24 premieres on NBC on Sept. 22 at 9 p.m. ET.
