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Mariska Hargitay Christopher Meloni. SVU's Mariska Hargitay: I'll Miss Chris Meloni "Terribly" No longer partners in crime.
Law & Order: SVU's Mariska Hargitay is breaking her silence about the departure of her longtime costar, Chris Meloni.

"For the past 12 years, Chris has been my partner and friend, both on screen and off," Hargitay, 47, told TVLine. "He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly -- I'm so excited to see what he'll do next."Another SVU star, Ice-T, is sad to see Detective Stabler go. "Me and Chris have been together a long time," the rapper-turned-actor told E! News. "We all negotiate separately. I'm not somebody who's dying to leave the show, but at the end of the day you still have to sit down with the execs and hammer it out. So I guess with Chris, it didn't go his way."

Earlier this month, sources told Deadline that Hargitay was signed on for season 13, but only for the first 13 episodes. After that, her character -- Detective Olivia Benson -- would be promoted to a higher position and a new detective, possibly played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, would take her place.

mariska hargitay christopher meloni. Christopher Meloni is turning in his badge on Law & Order: SVU after 12 seasons as Detective Eliott Stabler and costar Mariska Hargitay is breaking her silence about his departure.

The 47 year-old actress has been paired with Meloni for the entire run of the show and Hargitay says she’s already feeling the loss of her friend.

“For the past 12 years Chris has been my partner and friend, both on screen and off,” the Emmy winner tells TVLine. “He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly — I’m so excited to see what he’ll do next.”

SVU is headed for dramatic changes in the detectives line up this year – something it hasn’t seen since the first couple seasons when Dean Winters and Michelle Hurd vacated permanently.

With Meloni, 50, contract negotiations broke down earlier this week and the actor will not return for season 13. Hargitay is signed on for the upcoming year however she will only appear in the first 13 episodes.

Her role will then be reduced as her character, Det. Olivia Benson will move on in a supervisory position and not be a featured cop going forward. It has been rumored Jennifer Love-Hewitt may take her place as a special victims unit detective.