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After 10 years of speculation, the man himself Christopher Meloni is opening up about why he left Law & Order: SVU in the 12th season. It had been reported that his relationship with the producers soured after they didn't want to pay him enough.
But what was the truth? Meloni himself said...
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Christopher told Men's Health that there were issues with the contract negotiations. Meloni wanted to pursue other projects and branch out but was willing to stay longer on the cast of SVU if he could reach a compromise with producers.
He had been a main cast member since the very beginning and one of the main draws for fans every week. "My thought was: Instead of 22 episodes, bring me back for nine episodes, or bring me back for 18 episodes. They literally came back to me on a Thursday night and said, 'This is the deal. We want the answer by tomorrow. It's our way or no way.'"
Christopher had a very straight-forward response to their ultimatum which was not what they were expecting (or hoping for)...
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Meloni responded with, "I don't want to f*** around with you guys. This is what I want. If you can't do it, that's fine. Let's figure out my exit."
While ratings for the series suffered, Meloni was able to continue working and found great success in his countless other productions. "At the end of the day, how it was handled was, 'Olay, see you later.' So I went, 'That's fine. We're all big boys and girls here. See you later.' And I was off on new adventures and doing what I wanted to do. Telling the stories I wanted to tell."
Unfortunately, it devastated his co-star Mariska Hargitay...
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Mariska told People, "It was just so sad because we started this thing and built it together. And we went through so many milestones and spent so much time together and understood so many things that nobody else could understand."
Christopher explained, "She was left in the familiarity of what we were. And I'm sure there were echoes, constant reminders, everywhere. But for me, it was about how things fell out — and the word I'll use is that it was... inelegant."
Now the pair have finally reunited on both SVU and Law & Order: Organized Crime.
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Christopher Meloni and the whole cast of Law & Order: SVU have been over the moon to have him back. He said, "It felt good to have to make that decision, which was a big yes or no decision, with a sense of clarity and a sense of certain things being correct."
This time there is no tension with production: "This time around with the Law & Order ride, I'm not stressed by: Will it go well? Will it not go well? Not that I know how it's going to go. Just that, eh, just ride. Just do, just be."
Fans were shocked when "Detective Stabler" suddenly left the cast of Law & Order: SVU in 2011. Both he and production were tight-lipped about why he left but rumor had it that star Christopher Meloni was getting stiffed in the contract.
Now, 10 years later "Stabler" is finally telling his side!