Law & Order: SVU: Jamie Gray Hyder and Demore Barnes to Exit in Premiere

Law & Order: SVU‘s squad will be down two key members next season: Series regulars Jamie Gray Hyder and Demore Barnes will both exit the series in the Season 23 premiere, our sister site Deadline reports.

Hyder plays detective Kat Tamin on the hit NBC procedural, while Barnes plays deputy chief Christian Garland. Both joined the cast in Season 21 on a recurring basis, and then were upped to series regulars for Season 22. But Garland’s job appeared to be in serious jeopardy in the Season 22 finale when he was chewed out by superiors after he apologized for systemic racism in the New York Police Department.

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SVU — now the longest-running live-action primetime series of all time — is set to return for Season 23 with a two-hour premiere airing Thursday, Sept. 23 at 8/7c on NBC, followed by Law & Order: Organized Crime‘s Season 2 premiere at 10 pm. (Click here to check out all of NBC’s fall premiere dates.)

Will you miss seeing Kat and Garland on SVU? And how do you think the show will write them out? Drop your thoughts on the news in a comment below.

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