A recent Law & Order storyline about a white woman being hesitant to name a Black man as her attacker in a rape case sparked anger amongst conservative users online.
The episode at the center of the consternation was from the popular spin-off of the long-running procedural series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, which focuses on sex crimes. Airing on January 25, "Truth Embargo" saw a white woman, played by Romina D'Ugo, sexually assaulted during an incident at a clothing store.
When questioned at the hospital later, she initially claims to have not seen the face of her attacker, despite being shown footage of the suspect removing a mask before entering her changing room. She later admits to having hesitancy about giving testimony about her attacker, a Black man played by Mykey Cooper, citing the systemic racial inequities in the American justice system.
"She's inconsolable," the character's partner tells detectives at one point. "We're acutely aware of the systemic inequities that exist within the criminal justice system."
"Well, I can't deny that there's a history of racial bias," the main character, Olivia Benson, played by Mariska Hargitay, responds. "It's certainly not a perfect system."
Even though the woman is ultimately convinced to testify about the incident and name her attacker, the episode sparked outrage from several conservative users on X, the platform previously known as Twitter.
"Law & Order features a woke white woman character who was R*ped by a black man refuses to press charges because of her White privilege and doesn't want the black man to go to prison," user "Unlimited L's" wrote in a post, responding to another user claiming the show was saying, "even if you get r*ped, you shouldn't seek justice if you are white."
"I used to love this show, now its a steaming pile of [poop emoji]," another user wrote. "Woke RACIST Rape victim felt zero responsibility to keep other women safe from a rapist - because the black guy was too STUPID to understand how wrong RAPE was."
"White people are privileged so they shouldn't seek justice for r*pe!" another user going by "Paul" wrote.
Most of the angered posts did not note the context in which the woman agreed to testify by the end. Newsweek reached out to Wolf Entertainment via email for comment.
The broader Law & Order series has long generated controversy across the political spectrum, with viewers closer to the center and left-wing criticizing it for glamorizing and valorizing police and the justice system. A feature segment about such issues on HBO's Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in 2022 prompted an agreement from Special Victims Unit actor Diane Neal that the show was "copaganda." The same January 25 episode also sparked reactions from some online viewers claiming that "the mental gymnastics the show is doing to make sure the cops are always the good guys are just downright kooky at this point."
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
fairness meter
To Rate This Article
About the writer
Thomas Kika is a Newsweek weekend reporter based in upstate New York. His focus is reporting on crime and national ... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here.
