Law & Order: SVU will be returning to the small screen for its 22nd season soon, and the series plans to explore the major events that have taken place in 2020 thus far, including the coronavirus pandemic and the protests against police brutality set off by the murder of George Floyd. Executive producer and SVU showrunner, Warren Leight, recently spoke to Lesley Goldberg and Daniel Fienberg, the hosts of The Hollywood Reporter‘s TV’s Top 5 podcast, about how the longest-running primetime drama will approach the current global climate in its new season, especially considering the nature of the show.

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“I think we’ve tried really hard in the last year to show how class and race affect the outcomes of justice in society, but I’m beginning to suspect ‘really hard’ wasn’t enough,” Leight admitted. “This has to be a moment where people make themselves uncomfortable, where people in power have to make themselves uncomfortable.” Leight revealed that he often invites activists to speak to the writers of the show about how to approach social issues in particular storylines. He also mentioned that he’s been in touch with Color of Change, the nation’s largest online racial justice organization, about consulting on the upcoming season.

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However, he is not willing to shift the the show’s approach to law enforcement completely. “I can’t make every episode about a bad cop,” he said. “I think we’re trying to depict how justice should be handled for victims and for perps. Oli [Benson] makes mistakes…but she’s empathic, which is I think what separates the cops on our television show from a lot of what we’re seeing these days on our live streams.” Still, he acknowledges that “police shows need to do better.”

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“People watch the shows to see heroes,” he points out. “You have the responsibility to at least depict the reality—as close to the reality as you can. There are shows with flawed cops at their center…I don’t mind a flawed cop at the center, but a flawed cop with a tendency towards violence who’s glorified, to me, is a real recipe for legitimizing police brutality.”

Leight said his writers room was already back up and running and trying to figure out how to touch on the coronavirus pandemic on the show when George Floyd was murdered by police. “How do you reflect, in the midst of a pandemic, an insurrection caused by systemic racism and police brutality?” he asked. “There’s a lot going on, we’re reeling…We altered a teaser today to have somebody who’s assumed to be guilty because he’s black and he’s in the wrong place. We added the extra beat that they could arrest him on the spot because he was arrested during demonstrations and he didn’t show up for a desk appearance, so there’s a warrant out for him. That was today’s addition.”

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As for Floyd’s murder specifically? “It has to come up and it will,” Leight said. “There are ways, we will find our way in to tell the story. Presumably our cops will still be trying to do the right thing, but it will be harder for them and they will understand why it will be harder for them.” Listen to the full episode of The Hollywood Reporter’s TV’s Top 5 podcast with Warren Leight below:

Ice-T is all for the recent firing of Law & Order spinoff writer, Craig Gore, after the former threatened to "light up" any looters "who are trying to f*ck with my property." On Tuesday (June 2nd), the longtime Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star responded to a story by Variety which reported that the series' creator, Dick Wolf, had given Gore the boot. "Oh sh*t.." Ice-T wrote in his quote tweet of the article. "The Big Boss is cleaning house… RESPECT."

Legendary rapper Ice-T is no stranger to police brutality, having previously stirred controversy in 1992 with his unapologetic single “Cop Killer.” Today, with protests against racial injustice and systemic racism ongoing throughout North America, Ice T has remained firm in his beliefs. Even though some may experience cognitive dissonance given his longstanding role as Finn Tutuola on Law & Order Special Victims Unit, Ice T has never been one to turn his back on the victims of prejudice. 

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Sadly, Donald Trump took it upon himself to invoke Law And Order in a recent tweet, although it’s unlikely he intended to make reference to the beloved series. Still, the word choice was enough to draw Ice’s ire, who responded in kind with a succinct yet impactful few words: “This MF…” Clearly, Ice has had enough of Donald Trump’s inflammatory ways, tweets that feel like further provocation to an already divided nation. 

If it wasn’t already abundantly clear, Ice-T is not here for Donald Trump in these trying times. It’s a perfect on-brand response for the legendary rapper, who recently declared himself to be “Too Old For The Dumb Shit” on his latest single. Unlikely that Trump gets fazed by Ice’s disapproval, but a reminder that art does not always imitate life — even though some may wish it did. 

Ice-T is giving Swizz Beatz his support for his Hip Hop Founders Fund idea, which would serve to financially assist the aging trailblazers of hip hop. Earlier this month, Swizz spoke to Joe Budden about the OGs who paved the way for hip hop, and noted how many of them, now entering old age, are not financially stable despite how prosperous the genre has made some of the more recent rappers. Swizz then proposed the idea that these newer rappers should contribute toward financially supporting these hip hop icons, considering how much they’ve done to allow artists today to succeed and make money off rap.

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Ice-T, a man who’s been part of the rap game a long time, agrees with Swizz’s proposition, and believes it would be possible with donations. “I’ve always looked out for people like Caz and Mel—those have been my friends,” he told HipHopDX. “I don’t have a problem with it. I don’t expect the young kids to be involved in it, but then you do have enough people like myself and Swizz and people who have been very successful, you know? There’s no retirement for rappers. There is nothing. A lot of them have fallen on hard times.”

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“I mean, if it was a fund, it wouldn’t be an individual person giving it to them,” he continued. “I think what they’d have to do is create a board of people—maybe like the Universal Hip Hop Museum — that would be able to handle the funds and get it out to people in need. I think that’s very honourable that Swizz Beatz would bring that up and say that. I think it’s cool. I think it’s just very technical about who they feel deserves that. There’s so many people, and it goes back…The first generation of rap is unrecorded rap. It’s before records. So all the hip hop that happened in the streets, it was only on cassette tapes. That’s the first generation. By the time people heard Melle Mel, [Grandmaster Flash &] the Furious Five, Sugarhill Gang, hip hop was already a culture. So, how far do you go back? I mean, Run-DMC was like the first rap group to get paid.”

“I think there should be some kind of an insurance plan something people can donate to,” he proposed. “See, certain people from that era are OK. Like, I’m OK, Chuck D’s OK. Russell [Simmons] is OK. Jay-Z’s OK. Puff’s OK. LL’s OK. There’s a lot of people that are OK, but a lot of people aren’t. It’s worth investigating. I would be part of it. I definitely would donate.”

Throughout the entirety of his decadeslong career, Ice-T has always stood up for injustices against marginalized groups. The rap icon gave us "Cop Killer" with Body Count, and while he plays a detective on television as a long-standing character on Law & Order: SVU, in real life, Ice-T will march alongside anyone who opposes violent or oppressive forces implemented by the boys in blue.

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On Wednesday (May 27), in the wake of the police-involved murder of George Floyd, Ice-T took to his Twitter account to share his anger. "ICE Cold Fact: If you wanna get someone Mad about Racism, Sexism, etc…… Tell em it Doesn’t Exist," the rapper said. "This kills me: People say.. 'You made it! You’re successful! I’m White and I’m still struggling.. So there must not be any racism!!' Smh... I was watching a movie and a man asked another if he was racist.. His answer was… 'It depends what Race..' I think that sums up America."

Recently, Tekashi 6ix9ine pointed out that Ice-T's character is an officer after the rapper vocalized his displeasure with the rainbow-haired star. Ice-T made sure to include those who may criticize him for the same thing in his Twitter rant. "I play a Cop on TV… But I’ll NEVER stop speaking about injustice… EVER. F that." Ice-T capped off his series of tweets by writing, "If ANYTHING I Tweet offends you…. Please UNFOLLOW.. It’s that simple.. Have a nice day." Read through the rap legend's tweets below.

No matter what he’s done, Tekashi 6ix9ine continues to defend the decisions he’s made. After choosing to turn federal informant against his friend and Nine Trey Gangsta Blood associates, 6ix9ine has been able to avoid a lengthy prison sentence. He justified his behavior during a recent Instagram Live where he listed the reasons why he took the stand, but artists like Snoop Dogg and Ice-T have shared their disapproval of the rapper’s reintegration into hip hop upon his release from prison. Lil Tjay has added his name to that list, and on Instagram Live, he criticized anyone sticking up for 6ix9ine.

“If you f*ck with 6ix9ine music, suck my d*ck,” he said in the clip. “Tired of being phony. I was phony for like two years, trying to be a extra perfect n*gga for the world. F*ck that sh*t. I’m chillin’.” Lil Tjay also spoke about 6ix9ine sharing why he decided to cooperate with the government. “Bro, one thing you gotta remember about this whole 6ix9ine sh*t, bro when you explaining something from one perspective, you’re gon’ win. At least to civilians ’cause I can’t even…I don’t know what the f*ck that n*gga was talkin’ ’bout. You can’t do all that and try to justify snitchin’. N*ggas think he did the right thing. Y’all n*ggas is some…Get the f*ck outta this culture. Stay in your lane.” Watch the video below.

Serving as a burst of color during this dark quarantine, Tekashi 6ix9ine woke everybody back up and served as the rainbow at the end of our two-month-long social absence. The rapper has been loud, brash, and unapologetic in his return to music. With his #3 debut on the Billboard Hot 100 for “GOOBA,” the star began a so-called investigation into why the song did not debut at the top spot, calling out Ariana Grande and Justin Bieber for allegedly buying 60,000 copies of their collaborative single at the last minute with six credit cards. 

Tekashi 6ix9ine has transitioned back into his role damn-near seamlessly, and he’s still revealing the inner workings of the industry — only, this time, he’s not telling gang secrets, he’s uncovering facts about the music business. 

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Hip-hop legend Ice-T has spoken on Tekashi in the past, even telling us that he had an episode of Law & Order: SVU with the rapper’s story as a base, and he’s back to tell the world what he really thinks of the rainbow-haired rat.

Sharing a doctored image of the rapper shaking hands and cooperating with the feds, Ice-T spoke his truth and reminded the world that he still has no respect for a snitch. Either that or he’s just having some fun on his page, posting a picture that he found funny and not meaning much by it.

Ice-T is wishing his longtime buddy Scarface a quick recovery after the Geto Boy announced he'd tested positive for coronavirus. As the spread of COVID-19 increases more and more rapidly, it seems that more and more public figures are coming forward to reveal that they've tested positive for the virus. One of the most recent celebrities to join that growing list was Scarface, who disclosed the bad news on Thursday in a live stream with his fellow Geto Boys member, Willie D. After catching wind of the unfortunate circumstances,Ice-T, one of Scarface's good pals from back in the day, took to Twitter later that night to send his homie some love.

It appears Coco Austin is still breastfeeding her 4-year old daughter Chanel Nicole. The wife of Ice T took to Instagram on Friday to share an intimate pic of her & her daughter in action while breastfeeding.

“At a time when the world feels like its coming to an end … suck up as much love as you can!” Austin began in her caption. “I know the moms out there will appreciate this pic! Ive been getting alot of props in the breasfeeding (sic) community and get tons of emails from woman/moms appreciating me bringing light to the subject … I write a baby blog about my journey with Chanel and soon I will write about what it’s like to continue boob time with a 4 year old.”

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The former reality star added that she gets “tons and tons of requests that want me to speak on” her experience, explaining, “At this point in nursing its just for comfort and believe me the girl loves meat so its not like she isnt eating real food … ?.”

“Thank you to all that understand my view … i see most of you are so eager to side with me and I too root for you in your journey as well … Us moms are connected ?,” Austin concluded, tacking a few hashtags on to the end like “#breastfeedingforcomfort,” “#weenwhentheyareready,” “#toddlerbreastfeeding” and “#teammommy.”

Check out the rather questionable pic (below).

Dr. Dre has been increasingly active of late, much to the delight of hip-hop fans worldwide. Not only did the Good Doctor reunite with his Relapse team to bless Eminem with four Music To Be Murdered By bangers, but he also linked up with Kanye Westto play a role on Jesus Is King 2. Prior to that, Dre served as a watchful guardian over Anderson .Paak‘s two-part epic Oxnard and Ventura. It would appear that inspiration has taken control once again, as Dre recently connected with Xzibit and Ice T for another studio session.

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Xzibit, who worked closely with Dre on 2001, as well as his solo albums Restless and Man Vs. Machine, shared pictures of the sessions on his Instagram page. “You have no idea wtf we about to drop like a atom bomb on you.com,” he captions, alongside an image of himself, Dre, and Focus at the boards. Another image depicts X, Dre, Ice T, Focus, Fred Wreck, and Hen Gee mean-mugging the camera.

Given the link-up’s legendary pedigree, it’s no wonder the legendary Ice T also documented the moment. “We started this gangsta shit!” he declares, alongside a badass image of himself and Dre by the recording console. It’s unclear as to whether Ice is working on new music with the Aftermath mogul, but it’s still cool to see him involved in the process. Check out the pictures below, and sound off if you’re looking to hearing another collaboration from Xzibit and Dre. We’ll not soon forget “U Know,” “Best Of Things,” “X,” and “Losin Your Mind.”