Ice-T Has a Very Practical Response to SVU Potentially Ending

In SVU's twenty four seasons, his stint as one of the main actors is only behind that of Mariska Hargitay, who plays Olivia Benson. It is not surprising that by now SVU and Ice-T are closely associated with each other.

But what he's going to do if and when SVU finally ends its extraordinarily long run? Well, he has his rap career to fall back onto, but as he admits, he's going to face relatively hard times, because to survive as a musician you need to do 200 tour dates a year, while his work on SVU enables him to work on a much more relaxed schedule.

As he said in an interview with Smashing Interviews, thanks to SVU, "I have the ability to be home with my wife and my family and see my daughter every day. So I really appreciate that at this point in my life."

Of course, given Ice-T's net worth of $65 million, he probably can just sit back and enjoy his retirement at this point. But certainly, much of his fortune comes from SVU, where he currently gets a salary of $250 thousand per episode ($5-6 million per typical season), before syndication royalties – not an exceptional number for one of main stars in a popular series, but still pretty good.

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So, Ice-T made it quite clear that he's going to remain on the show for as long as the show keeps running. And he's pretty sure that SVU is going to keep running for as long as Mariska Hargitay is willing to play on it:

"I think the show is Mariska's show. I don't think Mariska can be replaced, and fortunately, she's still out buying shit. So as long as she keeps spending money, I think I've got a job (laughs)."

Judging by the fact that Mariska is both the only actor who played on SVU from the very beginning to the current point, and the highest-paid star on the show – reports on her salary vary, but by now it is probably exceeding $500 thousands per episode, making it one of the biggest on TV – Ice-T is probably right.