Tag Archives: Chris Meloni
"Law & Order: SVU" Contract Disputes With Chris Meloni & Mariska Hargitay
Posted on 08. Apr, 2009 by CSS.
Oh no! NBC is threatening to replace Mariska Hargitay and Chris Meloni on the beloved crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, industry insiders revealed to MSNBC on Wednesday. We hear the stars have become locked in a bitter contract dispute with the network after demanding a raise; Meloni and Hargitay already earn $350,000 per episode for their roles as Manhattan’s SVU crime fighting twosome Benson and Stabler.
MSNBC wrote on Wednesday:
Last week, NBC closed a deal with L&O boss Dick Wolf for an 11th season of “SVU” — which, at 10.5 million viewers, remains the Peacock’s No. 1 scripted show. That opened the door to a new round of negotiations with the stars, whose $350K-per-episode contracts will expire in May. Yet a source close to the matter said talks stalled when the duo — who, like in their previous negotiations, are banding together — attempted to go after back-end profits, a perk that’s almost never granted in the L&O universe (although exceptions were made for Vincent D’Onofrio and Chris Noth).
Television tattles doubt SVU producers will make good on their threat to drop the show’s two lead actors, particularly since the Benson and Stabler characters’ chemistry has an intricate subplot of the show.
“I don’t think in this environment, there’s any chance they could re-launch the show with both of them gone,” says a high-ranking exec at a rival network. “It’s a horrible time to retool a show. They already have to change the time-slot, because it’s not going to be airing at 10 pm next season….”
