SVU Returns to Its Roots After Embracing Woke Themes

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Ice T has firmly dismissed a fan’s claim that the long-running show has become “woke.”

Known off-screen as Tracy Lauren Marrow, the 66-year-old actor has portrayed Detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on the NBC series since he joined its second season in 2001. Fans can look forward to his return this October for the show’s 26th season. To mark the occasion, Ice T shared a behind-the-scenes photo on X (formerly Twitter) in early August, captioning it: “Seems like everyone is at the OLYMPICS…. I’m at Work. SVU on location. Season 26.”

However, on August 27, a fan responded to his post, asking, “Did they write SVU back to normal yet? It started to go woke.” Ice T tersely replied, “What the F is Woke? lol Like I give a F***.”

Created by Dick Wolf, Law & Order: SVU first aired in 1999 as the initial spin-off of the original Law & Order, which premiered in 1990. This successful franchise has since given rise to six other shows: Organized Crime, Criminal Intent, Trial by Jury, True Crime, Law & Order: LA, and Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent.

The original Law & Order series is gearing up for its 24th season this fall, following a 12-year hiatus after its 20th season in 2010, before being rebooted in 2022.

SVU is headlined by Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson, a New York Police Department detective focusing on sexual crimes. Throughout its run, the show has seen various cast changes, featuring actors such as Christopher Meloni, the late Richard Belzer, Dann Florek, BD Wong, and Tamara Tunie. The current main cast includes Hargitay, Ice T, Kelli Giddish, Peter Scanavino, and Octavio Pisano.

In a July 2023 interview with Variety, Ice T discussed his role as Detective Fin, clarifying, “I’m not a cop. I’m the furthest thing from a cop.” He added that some people have accused the show of being police propaganda, but he understands that viewpoint.

“The cop I am on our show is an SVU detective… When I got the job at SVU, Dick Wolf said to me, ‘Ice, you don’t like cops, right?’ I told him that during my criminal past, I didn’t hate cops – they were my opponents. [He asked,] ‘But you admit we need them, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ So, Wolf told me to play the cop that we need. And if I play the cop that we need, I won’t have any problems with it.”

Source: NBC, Variety