‘Law & Order: SVU’ season 16: Mariska Hargitay’s connection to Taylor Swift’s … cat?

We have to say that this is a story that we did not quite imagine ourselves writing earlier this week, linking singer Taylor Swift to “Law & Order: SVU” thanks to a cat. However, it has somehow happened.

Taylor is a huge TV fan, and it appears as though she has a special obsession when it comes to network shows. A few years ago, she picked up a cat and named it “Meredith Grey” after of course the title character of “Grey’s Anatomy.” Now, she has a new one who just so happens to go by the name of “Olivia Benson.”

Taylor posted the attached image here onto her Instagram page, and confirming that the cat was named after none other than Mariska Hargitay’s character on the NBC show. We know that she has been a fan at least for a few years now, and it may be even longer than that. Given the show’s history of big-name guest stars, it’s actually a surprise that she hasn’t appeared on it yet. (Maybe that’ll change for season 16? Fingers crossed!)

One thing that we can say for sure is that executive producer Warren Leight has taken notice of Taylor’s act, writing the following message of his own onto Twitter:

“Breaking… Olivia Benson and SVUWritersRoom contemplating changing Baby Boy Noah’s name to Taylor Swift Benson.”

This is clearly a joke, but all parties have to be thrilled about this. Taylor has a new cat, and the show gets to celebrate some free publicity. There are not many other programs entering their 16th season that are able to get something like this from a music star.

Photo: NBC