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Ice-T Reflects on His Close Friendship With Law & Order: SVU Co-Star Mariska Hargitay

Ice-T revealed he and Mariska Hargitay are just as good of friends IRL as they are on Law & Order: SVU. Plus, the rapper weighs in on whether Benson and Stabler will ever get together.

By Alex Ross, Paige Strout Sep 21, 2022 8:06 PMTags
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When you think of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, you think of stars Ice-T and Mariska Hargitay.

Fans have watched the duo—who play Odafin "Fin" Tutuola and Olivia Benson, respectively—take down NYC criminals for over two decades on the long-running NBC crime drama. And just like the characters' close bond on-screen, fans will be delighted to know that Ice-T and Hargitay are just as close off-screen.

In fact, Ice-T revealed that he knew the actress before SVU. "Me and Mariska lived on the same street in Hollywood," he exclusively told E! News at the show's season 24 premiere in NYC on Sept. 19. "We lived on Sunset Plaza, and her family house was up the hill, and my house was a little lower."

Ice-T joined his co-star and the rest of the SVU cast during the show's second season in 2000. Flash forward 22 years later, and Hargitay has grown to become one of the most important people in the rapper's life.

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"I tell Mariska, I have four women in my life," he told E! News. The father of three shares daughter Letesha, 46, with ex Adrienne, son Tracy Jr., 30, with ex Darlene Ortiz, and his youngest, 6-year-old Chanel, with wife Coco.

"But I've made more money with Mariska," he joked, "so she ranks really high in my women I care about."

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Fans will have to wait and see what's in store for Fin and Olivia this season, which premieres during a special 3-hour crossover event on Sept. 22. But if there's one thing people have been waiting years to see happen, it's for Olivia to finally get together with her former partner Elliot Stabler (Chris Meloni), who now appears on Law & Order: Organized Crime.

As for whether or not Ice-T thinks the will they/won't they couple will ever hook up? He told E! News, "Who knows?"

"I know in real life, Mariska and Chris are so tight and they're really good friends," he continued. "They have a bond that's really real, so that's good."

Law and Order: SVU season 24 premieres Thursday, Sept. 22, at 9 p.m. on NBC.

(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)

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