A Law & Order: SVU spinoff starring Christopher Meloni in his long awaited return as Elliot Stabler is still coming, but it will do so without writer Craig Gore. Franchise creator and executive producer Dick Wolf has fired Gore from the law enforcement/procedural show after his social media remarks (and an incendiary photo) referencing George Floyd protests. “I will not tolerate this conduct, especially during our hour of national grief,” Wolf declared in a statement posted to Twitter. “I am terminating Craig Gore immediately.”
The remarks from Gore in question included his Facebook-penned threat to “light motherf***ers up who are trying to f*ck w/my property.” The remark followed a photo of himself (apparently geotagged from West Hollywood), posing with a firearm with the following caption: “Curfew…” The postings were screencapped and tweeted by Drew Janda (a producer of HBO’s Big Little Lies) with a shoutout in Meloni’s direction.
Ayy @Chris_Meloni your new showrunner is a proud boy pic.twitter.com/FUb8NYc7aW
— drew janda (@drewjanda) June 2, 2020
Prior to Wolf’s statement, the situation went down with some confusion. Janda previously labeled (before correcting himself) Gore as a showrunner, and Chris Meloni responded that, nope, Matt Olmstead (Chicago P.D) is his spinoff showrunner. Further, as Meloni stated, “I have no idea who this person is or what they do.”
Truth:
Matt Olmstead is my Showrunner
I have gotten no word on ANY hirings
I have no idea who this person is or what they do https://t.co/Mtik40kij7
— Chris Meloni (@Chris_Meloni) June 2, 2020
It’s now clear that Gore’s not doing anything on this new spinoff, which shall be based in New York City and could potentially crossover with SVU. Once per season, perhaps? Make it so. The world’s been through a lot lately, and ongoing Olivia Benson-Stabler reunions would arrive as no small comfort. Regardless, it’ll be good to see an un-retired Stabler onscreen again.