LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT: Warren Leight Exits as Showrunner
May 4, 2022 by Marisa Roffman
LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT boss Warren Leight will exit at the end of season 23, he announced on Twitter. (The series has already been renewed for season 24.)
“The final day of shooting is always bittersweet. Today was a little more than that. As some of you have already figured out, I am stepping down at the end of #SVU23,” Leight wrote on Twitter. “The last two years of show running during a pandemic have been arduous, and I’ve decided to take a break.”
“It’s a privilege to work on #SVU, to write for @Mariska, @FINALLEVEL, @KelliGiddish, @PeterScanavino, @octaviopisano and all the former regulars and guest stars who come to our stage,” he continued. “It’s a joy to write with everyone @SVUWritersRoom, I’m especially grateful to @JulieMartinNY.” (You can read his full goodbye thread here.)
Leight originally joined the series in season 13, running the show until he departed in season 17. He came back for the historic 21st season, noting at the time how much—and little—had changed in the real world in his few years away from the series.
“The world of that SVU takes place in has really changed a lot in real-life,” he said at the time. “The whole #MeToo movement exploded, the techniques that that cops use to help victims and survivors recover their memories has completely changed. There’s the sense of using rape kits, and trying to [get through] the rape kit backlog. All kinds of things have changed.”
“And at the same time, nothing has changed,” he continued. “You still see powerful men getting away with horrible serial abuse and pulling everything they can to not be held accountable. I thought, there’s a lot to write about. It was kind of interesting to walk away from characters for three years and wonder what their next move should be.”
Prior to his official goodbye tweets, he alluded to his exit on social media as the season finale—which includes the return of Raúl Esparza—was filming.
“As the days dwindle down, to a precious few…,” he wrote on Twitter, accompanied by a photo from production of the finale. “It takes a village to get the #SVU23Finale produced. This is may [sic] 1/20th of the people involved. It is a joy to work with them all.”
As the days dwindle down,
to a precious few…It takes a village to get the #SVU23Finale produced. This is may 1/20th of the people involved.
It is a joy to work with them all.(All tagged below, except for @juancampanella -who for some reason can’t be tagged) pic.twitter.com/S7ccspKmkl
— Warren Leight (@warrenleightTV) April 25, 2022
LAW & ORDER: SPECIAL VICTIMS UNIT, Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC
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