Ice T has fired back at a social media user who said Law & Order: SVU has gone woke. The fan criticized the popular NBC crime series after Ice T posted a photo he took on the set of Law & Order to let fans know that he’s working hard on the 26th season of the show.
“Did they write SVU back to normal yet? It started to go woke,” the critic wrote on X in response to Ice T’s post.
The term “woke,” a word that was used by Black people for generations to mean things like “stay vigilant,” has of course become a popular insult among conservatives in recent years as a way of degrading people who speak up for social justice.
Ice T, however, made it clear that he doesn’t have time to play such games.
“What the F is Woke?” the “Law & Order” actor wrote in response to the X user. “lol Like I give a F**k.”
What the F is Woke? lol Like I give a Fuck. https://t.co/qVHbgWnhxD
— ICE T (@FINALLEVEL) August 27, 2024
Ice T has played as detective Odafin “Fin” Tutuola on Law & Order since 2000. He is the longest-serving male actor on the show. In a 2023 interview with Variety, the rapper and actor said it has become difficult to play as a detective in recent years.
“People have said that our television shows are police propaganda, making the police look good. I understand that argument,” Ice-T told Variety. “The cop I am on our show is an SVU detective. If I had to be a policeman in real life, it would be that type of cop because there’s no gray area. You’re chasing rapists and pedophiles. It’s hard to be a bad cop in that unit. On the B-side, if you only play bad guys all the time, what are you putting out there? You’re a celebrity, but you’re pushing the line of being a drug dealer or killer.”
The “Law & Order” said he received an advice that made him realize the power of the role he plays.
“When I got the job at SVU, Dick Wolf said to me, ‘Ice, you don’t like cops, right?’ I told him that during my criminal past, I didn’t hate cops — they were my opponents. [He asked,] ‘But you admit we need them, right?’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ So, Wolf told me to play the cop that we need. And if I play the cop that we need, I won’t have any problems with it.”
Ice T will star alongside longtime co-star Mariska Harigtay as Law & Order: SVU returns for its 26th season on NBC this fall.
