Mariska Hargitay Sweetly Hugs Ice T in Touching Birthday Post

SVU co-stars Hargitay and Ice T have been besties for over 20 years!
aw & Order: SVU’s Mariska Hargitay took to Instagram on February 16 to post a heartwarming birthday tribute to her longtime co-star, Ice T. “Happy Birthday @icet #LoveIsLove #RealDeal #ThatsWhatsUp #OG” Hargitay captioned the post, which included a throwback pic of the friends sweetly hugging.

The nostalgic pic is just a small snapshot of Hargitay and Ice T’s amazing relationship, which has spanned multiple decades. After all, they both hold the title of longest-running actor and actress in a TV series for their roles on SVU! And that isn’t the only exciting career update happening for Ice T, either. This man has been booked and busy!

Besides giving an iconic performance for the 2023 Grammys hip-Hop tribute and launching his motivational podcast IceT’s Daily Game, the SVU actor is also getting a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame the day after his birthday on February 17. Ice T will be honored with the 2,747th star for his sprawling music career and influence as one of the literal O.G.s of hip-hop.

“I grew up in L.A., and I knew the stars, and we used to walk up and down the street and see the stars,” Ice T told TODAY after learning the exciting Walk of Fame news. “I never imagined I could get a star, but when they told me I was going to get one, I was like, ‘OK, that’s cool.”

When it comes to Ice T balancing his music career and role on SVU, he likes to keep the lanes separate, telling TODAY he’ll likely never rap on the show. “I wouldn’t do that: That would be corny. Because Fin would be able to rap as good as I rap,” he said. “So, they would have to try to make me rap half-assed, which I wouldn’t do. Now, I got to draw the line somewhere.”

But that doesn’t mean his rap-writing skills are going to waste. He’s actually helped Hargitay create raps for her organization Joyful Heart.

Yup, you read that correctly. Benson can rap! “It’s funny, though, Mariska has me write her raps. She wants to rap, like, ‘Write me a rap.’ So yeah, I wrote a rap for Joyful Heart. She’s got a little rap I wrote her early. She’s like, ‘It’s time for you to write me a new rap,’” Ice T said fondly, before teasing, “All right, take it easy, Mariska.”

Happy Birthday, Ice T!