Among the many conversations being had these days in light of the protests against police violence and racial injustice is one about how cops are often portrayed on television, specifically the way they’re always held up as beacons of bravery and justness even as real-life cops are often… not that (to put it mildly). Earlier today, we reported that some actors who have worked on cop shows are donating their residuals to organizations like the National Bail Fund Network, and now Law & Order creator Dick Wolf—a man who deserves a lot of the blame for the abundance of police officers on our television screens—is addressing the problem (or at least a problem, if not necessarily the problem).
As reported by The Wrap, Wolf has fired a writer/producer named Craig Gore who was attached to the upcoming Special Victims Unit spin-off about Christopher Meloni’s character for posting a now-deleted Facebook photo of himself holding up a big gun of some sort under the title “Curfew.” In the comments to the post, he said, “Sunset is being looted two blocks from me. You think I won’t light motherfuckers up who are trying to fuck w/ my property I worked all of my life for? Think again…” (This post incorrectly identifies Gore as the showrunner of Meloni’s spin-off, to which Meloni responded “I have no idea who this person is or what they do.”)
Dick Wolf knows who this person is, though, and he promptly fired Gore. In a statement shared on Twitter through his production company, Wolf said, “I will not tolerate this conduct, especially during our hour of national grief. I am terminating Craig Gore immediately.” It’s worth pointing out here that Meloni’s SVU character, Elliot Stabler, was generally the more hard-edged member of the team, prone to moments of unrestrained fury in the face of the horrible crimes that happened on that show, but at the end of the day he (usually) did the right thing and was always a hero. It makes a bit of sense why the sort of person who would threaten to “light up motherfuckers” on Facebook would be drawn to something like this, which is why him being fired is solving a problem and not the problem.
Looking for even more ways to advocate for Black lives? Check out this list of resources by our sister site Lifehacker for ways to get involved.