Law & Order: SVU viewers will only get closure with one main character’s exit in season 27 despite several cast members leaving the show.
Multiple outlets reported on Thursday, July 24, that Octavio Pisano is returning in the season premiere to address Joe Velasco’s departure. However, Juliana Aidén Martinez, who played Kate Silva, won’t return to wrap up her SVU story line.
News broke in May that Martinez, 35, and Pisano, 39, were out as series regulars in season 27. Pisano originally joined Law & Order: SVU in season 23, while Martinez came on board during season 26. The show was officially renewed for season 27, with Michele Fazekas announced as the series’ first female showrunner, but no further explanation was given for Pisano and Martinez’s departures.
During the season 26 finale, which aired in May, undercover detective Velasco was promoted to detective second grade. Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and the rest of the team celebrated the accomplishment before going on to solve another case.
The casting shakeup came amid multiple changes at the network. That same month, NBC pulled the plug on Lopez vs. Lopez, Night Court, Found, The Irrational, Grosse Pointe Garden Society and Suits LA. NBC renewed The Hunting Party and Brilliant Minds, but those are the only freshman shows that survived.
NBC‘s harsh cuts followed the network signing an 11-year deal with the NBA. This agreement, which is worth nearly $2.5 billion per year, will see up to 100 regular-season games airing on the network, affecting the amount of original programming coming in the fall.
After her exit from SVU, Martinez was cast as a brand new character on FBI, which exists in the same universe. FBI is attempting to fill the space left behind by Katherine Renee Kane’s Tiffany Wallace, who left the series last year. Emily Alabi later came on board as Dani Rhodes. She will be returning in season 8, but only to wrap up her character’s story line.
Kane, 33, joined the show in 2020 during season 3 after Ebonee Noel, who played Kristen Chazal, left at the end of season 2. News broke of Kane’s exit in August 2024, and her final episode aired two months later.
Ahead of her last FBI appearance, Kane told Deadline in a statement that it was “time to look towards new creative endeavors.” She added: “I’m excited for the future and wish the show all the best.”
In the Law & Order: SVU world, another familiar face is returning. While fans won’t see much of Velasco and Silva, Kelli Giddish‘s Rollins will be back for season 27.
Giddish, 45, originally departed SVU in the middle of season 24 in 2022 after more than a decade on the show. She was a guest star in various episodes throughout seasons 25 and 26 before being confirmed as a series regular for the upcoming season.
