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"Chris Meloni has left Law &amp;amp; Order: Special Victims Unit. The actor, who has played Detective Elliot Stabler since the NBC crime drama made its debut in 1999, will not be returning for the show&amp;#039;s upcoming 13th season, reports TV Line. Meloni&amp;#039;s representative later confirmed to E! News: &amp;quot;It is true - 12 great years and time for the next chapter.&amp;quot; The news comes just a week after NBC boss Bob Greenblatt declared that a deal to bring Meloni back to the series was &amp;quot;nearly done&amp;quot;. Fellow show star Mariska Hargitay will return for season 13, but will scale back her involvement in the drama, having adopted a baby girl with her husband Peter Hermann in April. Hargitay recently claimed that she is &amp;quot;truly excited&amp;quot; about the upcoming Law &amp;amp; Order: SVU run and the changes it will bring for her character Benson. The next season of Law &amp;amp; Order: Special Victims Unit will air in the Wednesday night 10pm to 11pm slot on NBC&amp;#039;s fall 2011 schedule. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a321356/chris-meloni-leaves-law-order-svu/>