Mariska Hargitay was this year’s Emmys host. While I thought many of Mariska’s skits and jokes fell flat, I admire the way she threw herself into hosting and she genuinely looked like she was having a ball. One of the few Emmy bits to really land, in my opinion, was the Law & Order: SVU skit with Taylor Swift. Mariska and Taylor are friends in real life, Taylor is a well-known devotee of L&O: SVU, and Taylor famously named one of her kitties after Mariska’s character Olivia Benson. I know that Taylor was geeking out hard on the SVU set. Well, Ice-T has also been on SVU for decades, and he took part in the skit. Ice-T told Page Six that producers kept everyone in the dark about Taylor’s appearance, but once she was on set, she couldn’t have been nicer. She even brought cookies.
Taylor Swift’s surprise Emmys sketch was a case so confidential, not even the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” squad could crack it before they arrived on set. Ice-T, who has appeared on the NBC crime show since 2000 as Fin Tutuola, told Page Six the cast was asked to shoot a skit on Sunday for the Mariska Hargitay-hosted awards show, but producers made it clear the gig was “top secret.”
“I had no idea what it was,” Ice-T, 68, said. “And then when we got there, Taylor Swift was there.”
He explained the cast was instructed not to tell anyone about Swift’s involvement, as a leak would have ruined the moment for viewers at home. Ice-T claimed Swift, 36, was a true professional as she recited her lines for the cameras — but another highlight was the presents the amateur baker handed out after the cameras stopped rolling.
“I got some cookies,” the actor and musician said. “I didn’t eat them yet. They’re in my dressing room. I don’t even know, should I eat them? Should I save them? Should I keep them as a memento?”
He praised Swift for chatting with the whole cast while on set, and said he was able to connect with her “on a musician vibe.”
“I could tell after meeting her, she’s a very focused and professional person. Like anything she’s going to do, she’s going to do it to the fullest, and she handled it like a champ,” Ice-T added.
The skit turned the “SVU” cast into full-blown Swifties, with Hargitay’s Olivia Benson leading a brainstorming session on whether Travis Kelce’s wife would attend Monday’s awards show after her own nominations for the “Eras Tour” were handled at the Creative Emmys earlier in the month. Swift and her real-life cat, named after Hargitay’s character, then entered the discussion, and she poked some fun at herself in the process with jokes like, “She’s probably going to be at home playing with those cats she’s named after TV characters.”
After Hargitay’s Benson concluded Swift would likely be at Arrowhead Stadium to watch Kelce’s Kansas City Chiefs take on the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football instead, Ice-T’s Tutuola delivered a silly response.
“Well if she’s not there, I’m not watching,” he said with a straight face.
Ice-T, who recently dropped his new “Criminal Migraine” album in August, said Swift would “absolutely” be welcomed back to set with open arms.
Considering how many celebrities/actors have done guest spots on SVU (and the original L&O), it’s actually surprising that Taylor hasn’t appeared before now. Like, on the actual show. Maybe she was offered a role and she didn’t want to play a predator! Or a victim. Anyway, I’m sure this was a huge wish-fulfillment for Taylor. And Ice-T should definitely eat the cookies!
Screencaps courtesy of NBC video.
Hilarious that even a legend like Ice T is perky about TSwift. His comments come across as respectful and admiring. I bet his daughter and his wife are huge fans. The skit really was good, and the Easter egg hunt was appropriately annoying. 😆
This was a very funny skit. Taylor has some acting chops.
I’ve adored Ice T since the late 80s, and I just LOVE that he took part in all this silliness. But how long have those cookies been sitting in his dressing room?
Ice T has always come across, fair, direct, professional.
And he went through some shit professionally.
“Songs off the record, shut up.”
“When the President says your name in anger, shit has really hit the fan.”
(I’m paraphrasing, it was a long ass time ago)
Also, I’m enjoying the various swiftie theories that they’re coming up.
It’s silly and fun. And we need that.
This was the best skit of the night, no question and you could tell Taylor was so excited and geeking out to be in the set.
He should eat the cookies, I mean who turns down cookies. I bet those two had fun talking about the music industry.
I read a book by a woman famous for seducing and writing about famous men. She said Ice T was really, really nice. I’d rather not name the woman bc I’d feel silly about reading her book, but she did write about “performance” and men who were afraid of her “review” who refused to sleep with her. Sorry, I like all sorts of tea.