Kelli Giddish Sends Message to SVU Fans Ahead of Final Episode as Rollins
Just hours before her final Law & Order: SVU episode is set to air, Kelli Giddish is expressing gratitude to Rollins fans far and wide.
“To everyone who supported Rollins – thank you,” the actress wrote on Instagram Thursday alongside a collection of photos of her and her cast mates, including OG leading lady Mariska Hargitay.
Warren Leight, who served as SVU‘s showrunner for years, offered his own tribute to Giddish in a tweet on Thursday: “When we first started writing for [Kelli Giddish], I wondered if there was anything she couldn’t do. Emotion, exposition, authority, vulnerability, empathy… I soon realized, no matter what we came up with, she’d always make it work, seemingly without effort. It’s been a privilege.”
It was last August that Giddish confirmed that the NBC procedural’s current 24th season would be her last as Det. Amanda Rollins, announcing in a statement, “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.”
Amid conflicting reports about the reason for Giddish’s exit, then-new showrunner David Graziano took to Instagram to urge fans to “take a moment to entertain the idea that things are more complex than they appear in a world of emojis and tweets,” adding, “All I’ll say is Kelli has handled this with the most incredibly classy comportment. She is, without a doubt, one of the finest industry professionals I’ve come acrossin my 24 years of writing television. I’m saddened by her looming exit. It’ll be my lucky day if I ever get to write for her again.”
The promo for tonight’s episode shows Giddish’s Det. Amanda Rollins and Peter Scanavino’s Assistant District Attorney Sonny Carisi preparing to get married at the courthouse. As TVLine previously reported, her character will not be killed off during the hour. In fact, Giddish is slated to reprise her role as Rollins on SVU‘s sibling series Law & Order: Organized Crime later this season.
Meanwhile David Graziano has a history of hidden misconduct that has been washed away. Accusations of bullying and racism among other things with lower level staffers. Kelli’s exit is looking more and more shady by the day. Not a good look for Wolf Entertainment and NBC.
Yeppers. You are correctomundo. Will miss her.
The new addition stinks. Can’t believe they got rid of Kelli for that.
Agreed
I totally agree with you.
Agree shame on them . I don’t like the new character
Bring back Warren Leight! Barba not coming back and now Rollins out. Her replacement doesn’t cut it . Way too much over acting. Whose next
Agreed
Will miss Rollins for sure but they def should not bring Leight back. He wrote Olivia as nothing more than a martyr…at least we’re getting glimpses of her old self again.
If Graziano is actually a bad guy they should get rid of him…just curious to hear the whole story bc he’s been very vocal about his journey with therapy.
We’ve been SVU fans from the beginning. Last season I was on the fence about continuing to watch..too much cross-over and a little too political. We started this season as usual, but it was more of a chore than enjoyment to watch. After Kelli announced her departure..we deleted the saved episodes and removed it from our DVR. I’m glad it seems Rollins and Carissi are ending up together. I wish all involved with the show all the best.
As background actor I had the opportunity of working with Kelli Giddish on SVU. Not only is she a very nice down to earth person (as is Mariska Hargitay)she is also pretty in person, better than u see on TV. I wish her lots of luck in her future endeavors!
Wow!Come back soon!
Miss her
What an emotional episode! I will miss Ms Giddish and Rollins.
I absolutely love Amanda Rollins !! I think they are making a huge mistake taking her off the show!
I will miss her she’s one of my favorites. I hope she get to come back to the show..a great actress.
I liked Kelli much better than Rollins. As long as Mariska is there I’m good. Also really enjoy Molly Burnett joining the cast!
Not caring for the new Molly Burnett character. It seems like a reincarnation of Jo from The Facts of Life.
Right on the head! I don’t care for her either and the only one left is Ice T
I’m sad Kelli Giddish’s goodbye is getting slight overshadowed by allegations against Graziano. Wolf Entertainment seems to be floundering lately.
So happy Rollisi got a happily ever after and Rollins got a standing ovation exit.
Incidentally, Olivia deserves happiness too. Before the show ends! I hope her and Stabler can find their way back to each other. She’s his home too.
So what I’m taking away from this is that the showrunner knows he’s treating Giddish like sh¡t but that she’s wonderful for rising above it. She’s classy, while the showrunner is an a$$hole.
I’m really going to miss Rollins. She and Liv have been great together.
I think wolf did Kelly a favor. Now she can set her talent on more important acting. Wolf productions are close to being a thing of the past. When wolf productions went queer,the END is near! I for one turn the channel when ever I see a newer wolf Production.
🙄🙄🙄
Just saying it is more complex and giving no real reason is not a satisfactory answer. Naturally fans are curious why her character had to leave if it was not the choice of the actress. It just seems so fishy to me.
she’ll be a great loss ,,,,,,shame they couldn’t come together…….it just seems for so many wrong reasons we keep trading in wonderful entertainment for garbage to soothe someone’s ego or thoughts….this show will be weaker without her