Law & Order: SVU cast shakeup – Two beloved cast members to leave after Season 26 - NewsBreak

The Special Victims Unit is poised to lose two detectives later this month.

Law & Order: SVU cast members Octavio Pisano (who has played Det. Joe Velasco since Season 23) and Juliana Aidén Martinez (who joined as Det. Kate Silva for the current 26th season) will not return as series regulars if the NBC procedural is renewed for Season 27, according to our sister site Deadline.

It’s reportedly unclear whether Pisano and Martinez’s exits are the results of creative or financial decisions, nor is it known whether their characters’ storylines will come to a conclusion by the time Season 26 ends on Thursday, May 15.

Law & Order: SVU Shake-Up: Two Series Regulars Exiting After Season 26

NBC did not immediately respond to TVLine’s request for comment.

Law & Order: SVU — currently airing Thursdays at 9/8c — has yet to be formally renewed for Season 27, but the long-running cop drama’s return is noted as “a sure thing” on TVLine’s trusty 2025 Renewal Scorecard.

Additionally, Michele Fazekas (Gen V) was tapped in April to serve as SVU‘s showrunner for Season 27, should the series be picked up. She’ll replace David Graziano, who joined the show in 2022; Fazekas was previously a writer and producer on SVU in Seasons 4 through 7.

In related news, two cast members on another Dick Wolf series — Chicago Fire‘s Daniel Kyri and Jake Lockett — were also recently let go from that show, reportedly as “part of an effort to trim the budget” across Wolf Entertainment’s NBC projects. (The entire #OneChicago franchise has since been renewed at NBC.)