After spending over two decades at the helm of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, you better believe Mariska Hargitay and Ice T are as thick as thieves, leading Hargitay to gift her dear SVU co-star with an iconic nickname — “Icy.”

You might be thinking that “Icy” is a bit of a cutesy name for the Grammy-winning rapper and tough-as-nails Sergeant Fin Tutuola on SVU, but it’s the nickname that’s stuck between him and Hargitay. The two have been ride-or-dies on the NBC nail-biter since 2000, when Ice T first met then-Detective Olivia Benson in Season 2 of SVU. The years of camaraderie have led to a sibling-like connection between the pair, which Hargitay dived into during a February 2024 interview on The Tonight Show.

“We have these new cast members that I’m very excited about because it’s always new energy,” Hargitay said while chatting about Season 26 of SVU. “And it’s always learning, like Ice and I, we have so much fun at work and—”

Host Jimmy Fallon couldn’t resist the interruption. “You call him Ice?” he asked, unaware that it got even better than that.

“I call him — it depends on the mood and the mode – I call him Ice or Icy,” Hargitay explained.

“Icy?!” Fallon asked, still baffled by the fun nickname.

“Well, I have special privileges,” Hargitay said with a cheeky grin.

Mariska Hargitay first revealed her nickname for Ice T at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony

Hargitay first made waves for her nickname for Ice T while introducing her SVU co-star during his 2023 Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony, where she delivered a heartwarming tribute to her good friend, “Icy.”

“I want to tell you that it is so profoundly right that your name is now here, forever commemorated in this place. Because there is something else that I hold sacred, and that is friendship. Your achievements and your artistry and your whole verbal judo, your whole story, runs so deep,” Hargitay told Ice T while standing next to him on the podium. “You’re a rapper and an actor and an artist, and at a time when people overuse words without thinking and wearing out the meanings, you are indeed the real O.G.”

After sharing a tear-jerking account of Ice T’s many achievements and his impact on Law & Order, Hargitay was keen to pivot to the core of why she loves Ice T: those aforementioned “special privileges” of being one of his closest friends.

“But most importantly, the reason I love you is because you let me call you nicknames that no one else is allowed to call him,” Hargitay announced to the crowd while beaming ear to ear.

After getting her SVU co-star’s silent approval, Hargitay excitedly revealed she calls him “Icy.”

Mariska Hargitay is the only one allowed to call her co-star “Icy”

After Hargitay revealed her chucklesome nickname for Ice T, it didn’t take long for fans to start buzzing about the adorable moniker. During a 2023 interview with TODAY, Hargitay chatted with Savannah Guthrie about how she hadn’t intended to reveal her personalized moniker for Ice T, but it slipped out due to the close-knit nature of their two-decade-plus friendship.

“I wasn’t planning it, you know? I’d written this beautiful speech. I was like, how do I honor him? How do I honor him, this titan in the business? And then that just came up because our relationship is so cozy.”

Guthrie admitted that “Icy” was a “very cute nickname” before learning that the SVU sweetheart is the only one allowed to call him that nickname. If you see Ice T on the street and call him Icey, just know that’s an honor reserved only for his fellow primetime titan, Hargitay.

“I’m the only one that’s allowed to call him Icy,” Hargitay clarified.

Guthrie was glad that Hargitay gave her the heads up; she might have accidentally gotten too chummy with “Icey.”

“Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!” Hargitay jokingly cautioned before adding, “He’s actually the sweetest man alive. And the kindest and the most gentle.”