Mariska Hargitay Christopher Meloni
Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay is breaking her silence about the departure of her longtime costar, Chris Meloni.
"For the past 12 years, Chris has been my partner and friend, both on screen and off," Hargitay, 47, told TVLine. "He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly -- I'm so excited to see what he'll do next."Another SVU star, Ice-T, is sad to see Detective Stabler go. "Me and Chris have been together a long time," the rapper-turned-actor told E! News. "We all negotiate separately. I'm not somebody who's dying to leave the show, but at the end of the day you still have to sit down with the execs and hammer it out. So I guess with Chris, it didn't go his way."
Earlier this month, sources told Deadline that Hargitay was signed on for season 13, but only for the first 13 episodes. After that, her character -- Detective Olivia Benson -- would be promoted to a higher position and a new detective, possibly played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, would take her place.