‘Law & Order: SVU’ Cast Shakeups Are Coming After Season 26

Law & Order: SVU is getting a major cast shakeup after Season 26 comes to a close.

Juliana Martinez and Octavio Pisano will not be returning to the NBC procedural as series regulars, reported Deadline Tuesday, leaving the fates of Detective Kate Silva and Detective Joe Velasco a mystery ahead of the Season 26 finale.

Pisano first joined SVU in Season 23 as the former undercover agent who left a complicated past behind after growing up in Mexico. Martinez joined the cast just this season, playing the newest member of Manhattan’s Special Victims Unit after transferring from the Brooklyn Homicide Unit.

It’s unclear how Martinez and Pisano’s characters’ storylines will wrap up at the end of Season 26, which concludes with the season finale “Post-Rage” on May 15.

While it’s unclear if Martinez and Pisano exited SVU for creative or financial reasons, Deadline pointed out that multiple NBC shows have seen recent budget reductions that have impacted their casts and episodes ahead of the network’s upfront presentation on Monday.

Neither Martinez nor Pisano has directly addressed their exit on social media, but on April 17, Martinez shared a sweet message for the SVU cast and viewers following her season wrap. “Thankful to everyone who has tuned in and this whole, wonderful cast tonight,” she wrote. “Y’all ruled my world x.”

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A post shared by Juliana Aidén Martinez (@julianaaidenmartinez)

Law & Order: SVU has yet to be renewed for Season 27, but is expected to be picked up, as the popular series recently announced that Michele Fazekas will become the first female showrunner in the show’s history in this upcoming season.

The NBC series follows the detectives of the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit, which is led by Mariska Hargitay’s Olivia Benson. Also starring in the procedural are Ice T, Peter Scanavino and Kevin Kane.

The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Season 26 finale airs on Thursday, May 15 at 9 p.m. ET on NBC.