Law & Order: Special Victims Unit's Kelli Giddish confirms that she will leave the crime drama after playing detective Amanda Rollins for 12 seasons. Giddish made her debut as Rollins in season 13, episode 1 back in 2011. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 24 is set to air in September 2022.
A detective from Atlanta, Georgia, Amanda Rollins joined the Manhattan Special Victims Unit in the premiere episode of season 13, "Scorched Earth," where she helped tackle a sexual assault case involving an Italian Diplomat. Across her career within the NYPD, Rollins would help solve cases tied back to her time in Atlanta, survive a shocking sniper attack, tackle issues including her gambling addiction, scars stemming from her dysfunctional family life, and raise 2 daughters of her own. However, while Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 24 will be kicked off with a three-way crossover episode with the original Law & Order series and Law & Order: Organized Crime, the season will also see Giddish's departure from the series, with the star taking to social media to address the news.
In a post on her Instagram, Giddish confirmed online discussions about her departure were accurate, emphasizing the what portraying Rollins over the past 12 years has meant to her. Alongside two photographs of her character, the actress thanked producer and series creator Dick Wolf, co-star Mariska Hargitay, showrunner Warren Leight, her other co-stars, the crew who had worked on the show, as well as NBC and Universal Television for working alongside her across the past 12 years of her career. Check out Giddish's post below.
Season 24 will see David Graziano become showrunner following the departure of Leight, who had handled the position after returning in 2019 to manage the show from season 21 to 23. While Graziano is an experienced writer in television, having worked on series such as Amazon Prime's American Gods and Jack Ryan, the writer and producer is a newcomer to the Law & Order franchise. With both Leight and Giddish's departures, as well as Graziano's arrival, season 24 of Special Victims Unit will see a number of changes for the long-running police procedural drama.
With Giddish having been a part of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for over a decade, many fans are sure to be shocked and saddened by the news of her departure so soon after Leight announced his own departure. With such a long tenure on the long-running show, Rollins firmly established herself as a core part of the Special Victims Unit team, with her character fully being explored throughout the series. While fans may miss Giddish, they are also sure to be supportive of the star as she moves into a new era of her career, speculating on how Rollins' story may end.
Source: kelligiddish