Ice-T Jokes He Had to ‘Check on My Pulse’ After Learning Kelli Giddish Was Leaving ‘SVU’

Ice-T tells PEOPLE calls “from higher up” resulted in Giddish’s exit from Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, but he added “I’m not even sure she’s gone until they shoot that episode”

Ice-T and Kelli Giddish
Ice-T is not quite ready to say goodbye to his Law & Order: Special Victims Unit costar Kelli Giddish.

The rapper and actor, 64, opened up to PEOPLE about Giddish’s departure from the show on Monday at the Law & Order premiere event in New York City.

“It’s a sad thing,” he acknowledged. “Me and Kelli were friends — dog friends and all that. We became close. Kelli’s been here 10 years.”

Ice-T noted that calls “from higher up” resulted in Giddish’s exit from the show. “It came from the top of the mountain, you know?”

He continued, “When I heard about it, I called to check on my pulse, like, ‘What’s going on?’ But this is the business we’re in, and they shuffle the deck occasionally.”

Ice-T added that they haven’t filmed Giddish’s final episode yet. “I’m not even sure she’s gone until they shoot that episode,” he said, “because you never know.”

He summed up, “Kelli will be missed.”

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Fellow SVU star Octavio Pisano, 36, admitted that saying goodbye to Giddish is “bittersweet.” He explained to PEOPLE, “When I came to the show last season, Kelli was the first one to kind of take me under her wing, and most of my scenes in the earlier episodes were with her. So her and I have a bond. Her dressing room is right next to mine, so we connected.”

Pisano continued, “Obviously I’m really sad, but I’m truly excited about the next chapter in her life because she’s an amazing talent.”

“I’ve learned so much from her in terms of acting and all kinds of things,” he said. “So more than anything I’m excited, but obviously it’s bittersweet.”

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Giddish, 42, announced her departure from the show last month.

“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 wrote on Instagram alongside a series of photos of her in character.

“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,” she continued.

She added, “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.”

Kelli Giddish is seen at film set of the ‘Law and Order: Special Victims Unit’ TV Series on August 17, 2022 in New York City.

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The announcement of her departure came the same day as the Law & Order franchise announced this week’s historic crossover between all three of its hit shows: Law & Order, SVU and Organized Crime.

The crossover event will bring characters from all three shows “into a singular and all-encompassing” plot.

NBC announced that Hargitay (Capt. Olivia Benson), Sam Waterston (Jack McCoy), Hugh Dancy (Nolan Price), Christopher Meloni (Det. Elliopt Stabler) and more will team up in the historic crossover event.

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