What Unites Both Law & Order: SVU And Taylor Swift Fans Every Year
Love for Olivia Benson is the only right answer.
September 20, 1999 marks the first appearance of a character named Olivia Benson in a pilot episode of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Played by Mariska Hargitay, the character has evolved over the years and still lives on, leading the show into its 25th year.
As many viewers admit, SVU speaks to them far more than any other show in the vast Dick Wolf universe because of the way it deals with very sensitive issues. Sexual assault and harassment are issues that affect many people, and a show that focuses on these crimes should know how to talk about them.
Olivia Benson's determination to punish the perpetrators and her unwillingness to compromise with any victim is what made people fall in love with her in the first place. All the good that Mariska Hargitay, inspired by her own character, was able to bring to the world after that is what made them stick with her.
Even today, when the writing on SVU is questionable and some decisions about Benson and other characters make fans want to throw something at their TV, people still aren't ready to give up the show that means so much to them.
As it turns out, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in general, and Olivia Benson in particular, have some very famous fans. One of the music legends of the XXI century, Taylor Swift, loved the show and the character so much that she decided to name her second Scottish Fold cat after her.
Olivia Benson is now part of Taylor Swift's cat family, which also includes Meredith Grey and Benjamin Button. What's even better is that Olivia Benson's on-screen counterpart, Mariska Hargitay, actually met her fluffy namesake back in 2015. Swift herself shared a video of a kitten eating out of the actress' hands.
“This is Olivia Benson meeting Olivia Benson, and things are going well so far,” the singer commented.
Ever since Olivia the Cat entered Taylor Swift's life, it's not just Law & Order: Special Victims Unit fans who are celebrating Olivia Benson's first appearance on their screens. It's also Swifties who are happy that their favorite cat is named after such a powerful and interesting TV character.