Mariska Hargitays Law & Order: SVU costume added to Smithsonian collection

Capt.Olivia Benson isn’t keeping this one close to the vest.A costume worn by the “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” character, played by actor Mariska Hargitay, is now part of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History collection.Hargitay and SVU creator and executive producer Dick Wolf presented the donation, which included a blue leather blazer suit and gold badge, to the Washington, D.C., museum at an event on Sept.

9.Hargitay, wore the ensemble in Season 25, Episode 8, “Third Man Syndrome,” which aired in March, the museum said in a press release.The gift also included the shirt, jeans, belt, pair of boots and earrings she donned in the episode.“We collect costumes from television and entertainment history because they help us to talk to visitors about important series that have shaped national debates, shaped people’s identities, helped them to understand the world around them,” museum curator Ryan Lintelman explained in an Instagram video.

“In the case of ‘Law & Order: SVU,’ there’s so much to be said about the justice system, about sexual violence, about survivors and how they heal,” he continued.“This show really helps Americans understand that and have more empathy for those people and those situations.”Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, said Hargitay has done “invaluable work in destigmatizing and advocating for women and all sexual assault survivors,” on and off the screen.Hargitay’s iconic character, who premiered in 1999, is depicted as a passionate NYPD detective advocating for victims of rape, sexual violence, child abuse and human trafficking.She founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004, which supports survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, and has fought to end the backlog of untested rape kits in the US.“I am extremely proud and extremely honored,” Hargitay, who is also a producer on the show, said in the Insta...