SVU’s Kelli Giddish Shares the (Surprising) Reason Behind Her Exit
The day after her final Law & Order: SVU episode aired, Kelli Giddish is speaking out about what precipitated her exit from NBC‘s long-running procedural.
“My side of things is just that it’s time in the Rollins storyline,” Giddish tells our sister site Variety. “I felt like where it was heading, and where it headed last night, just seemed the right place to leave it right now.”
She adds: “I am so excited about things going on in my personal life and kind of the mirroring of what’s going on in my personal life and in Rollins’, there’s a lot of joy to be experienced.”
Giddish’s statements seem to refute rumors that she’d been let go from SVU, where she’d played Det. Amanda Rollins for the past 12 years. News of the departure broke in August. She says she knew she’d be leaving “before the season started, this year. We worked on this storyline together, and I think the last episode culminated the beautiful Rollins and Benson relationship, and we got to see Carisi and Rollins get married, which was such a treat.”
In addition to the ‘Rollisi’ nuptials, the episode chronicled Rollins’ decision to leave Capt. Benson’s squad and take a teaching position at Fordham University. (Read a full recap.)
Giddish also addresses the possibility of a return, particularly given that Rollins’ new husband — Assistant District Attorney Dominic “Sonny” Carisi, played by Peter Scanavino — is still a major character on the show.
The door to return “is un-shut,” she says, later adding: “Dick Wolf has got such a fertile universe that’s going on, that people can pop up in different places. That’s really a cool thing that he’s created.”
Kelli said it was time for Rollins to move on, but she also never says that NBC didn’t fire her
I’m not buying it either, especially after her statement from August announcing her departure as well as the EP’s statement about it. And then there’s the article from Variety back in August that flat out said it wasn’t her choice/decision to leave. Amanda was pretty much the only female friend Olivia had, i wonder how Olivia will adjust? Hope NBC changes their mind and brings Kelli back
Visit Rollins when off-duty for some tea, shopping and watching underground wrestling matches.
WolfEnt are 100% in damage control mode now. The showrunner stuff is just the latest in a long line of controversy. The one thing they don’t want to actually do is address the obviously toxic culture within the company.
Yeah. I’ll believe it was voluntary when I see who they replace her with.
Not sure if you’ve been watching the show this season or just reading about it, but it was was established who they replaced her with months ago, and cemented this week when that actress (Molly Burnett) was inserted into the opening credits.
College campuses are rife with opportunities for good storylines. Perhaps we will see her again indeed. 👍
Hopefully she can consult on cases and still be a reoccurring presence.
The dumbest decision ever. I know characters come and go but this just doesn’t make any narrative sense. The partnership between Rollins and Benson was a great asset and a rare exemplar of a long term , genuine working relationship between two women that was both complex and realistic . Why eliminate something that has so much resonance with an audience … particularly young women. Whoever made this decision is an incompetent and should not be in a position to do such destructive things.
I totally agree with you! The show won’t be the same without her. 🌠
Olivia is the character that should have been written out, her time is way past the due date. She is so annoying!
Amanda was the only reason to watch anymore might as well cancel it now unless the bring in fresh faces and dump Olivia.
I was never a fan of the Rollins character. I just never accepted her accent as being New York City appropriate. I felt the same way about Fred Thompson’s Arthur Branch on Law & Order. We don’t generally elect candidates District Attorney in NYC if they sound like they came from Alanama. Do I sound biased against southerners? Perhaps, but it doesn’t mean it’s untrue.
Yeah, nobody actually believes that nonsensical bulls$it. Everybody knows she’s covering.
My all time favorite, cast and writers.
Amanda’s exit was perfect while I hope she will at some point return to the cool gang.
Though it’s been said almost everywhere that Kelli was asked to leave SVU, whomever guessed correctly in Kelli’s departure, the very first essence of this departure I’m looking at in this moment…the storyline still stinks.m
I certainly will miss the Rollins/Carisi storyline and how seemingly it seemed to fit in the entire story. It will be interesting to see where the show goes from there.
Think about the other storylines. Right. There are none that come to mind. Rollins and Carisi were the end of the storyline that made us smile.
SPOILER.
I’m grateful that they didn’t kill her off. Great ending for a great character.
Yes! Agreed. I read where they were going in a different direction with Amanda’s character. What the heck does that mean, exactly? Especially since the character of Amanda is gone? I’m done with all of the L&O’s unless Amanda returns.
I probably seen every episode of Law and Order. My take on Kelly leaving is sad but it would be great for her to be a star in her own law and order franchise.
Thank you for posting this comment on TVLine. I’m in the process of moving and it might’ve been quite a while before I stumbled upon it. Don’t have time to read now but will. Love Kelli. I’m one of the ones who completely gave up SVU because of (what/how I perceived) her exit. I watched last Thursday in spite of how I feel about the program. It was a great last episode for Kelli.
Leave TJ and Amy alone. They’re great together on GMA3! I don’t care if they’re a couple or not, that’s THEIR BUSINESS and no one else’s. They’re separated from their respective spouses and free to do as they wish.
They’re not taking anything away from the stories or news they cover. If they do, it’s your problem, not theirs.
I hate to see her go. Olivia should have been replaced what more can they think of for her character. Amanda’s character took the attention away from Olivia. She was the bada** and don’t the producers realize Olivia is played out. I seen the girl their going to replace her with and it doesn’t look hopeful.
There is no replacing of Kelli Giddish. I’ve watched all of the Dick Wolf series since the beginning. I didn’t give up SVU itself but rather all of what Dick Wolf represents. There’s more to television than Wolf.
Sorry to see Rollins go, loved her complex character – more real than the others (persnoal confilcts and difficulties) However, the whole SVU show is becoming stagnant with unreal, overwrought, drawn out and melodramatic storyline. Carisi should have left, unconvincing in new “role”. Stop playing musical chairs with belived characters to save money or make some kind of point – thats a great way to loose fans. Show needs to get back to taught, compact and concise case solving like years ago. Ditch the “show runner” ( what do they actually do anyway? since there are directors and producers?) And stars of show should NEVER be able to produce.