‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Ice-T Jokes About Going From Robbing Banks to Playing a Cop for 22 Years

Law & Order: SVU star Ice-T definitely sees the irony in his long-term roll on the show, as he recently joked about how he went from robbing banks to playing a cop on TV for the past 22 years. In an exclusive clip from Ice-T’s upcoming appearance on USA’s Straight Up Steve Austin — shared by E! News — the rapper-turned-actor spoke with the former wrestling star about his criminal past in relation to playing a police officer for more than two decades. “Playing a police! How the f—?!” Ice-T quipped, “I went on the show to do four episodes, man. Here it is, we’re starting the 22nd season. I can’t really explain it man.”

Austin then asked Ice-T if the roll is “still fun” for him. “Yeah, it’s fun because of the work environment,” the star replied. “Here’s a funny story for you. So when I first got on the show I was with Richard Belzer. And I was there for about three months and they were like, ‘Well, Ice, you’re not bonding with the group.’ Meaning I guess they didn’t think I was gonna go out to lunch with them and all that. I was just saying my lines.”

Ice-T then went on to say, “And I told them I said Chris [Meloni], Mariska [Hargitay], Belzer, Dann [Florek]. I said I used to rob banks. I don’t need to like you guys. I just need to know you know how to drive, you know how to control the room, you know how to go in the safe, you know how to listen to the radio. Guess what? After we rob some banks, we’ll be the best f—ing friends in the world. And we’ve been robbing the bank for 22 years.”

In addition to the irony of Ice-T going from criminal to playing a cop on TV, the rapper also was at the center of a notorious musical controversy in the mid-90s, when his heavy metal band Body Count put out a song called “Cop Killer.” In a recent interview with Stereogum, Ice-T reflected on the track and stated that he “wouldn’t release that song today, because right now people take s— too literally.”

Ice-T continued, “I wouldn’t want nobody to go out there and kill no cops. People are too active right now, so it would look like I was trying to trigger people to go kill somebody. When I did it, there were no protests. That record was at least two years before Rodney King. So I was just kind of predicting.”