‘Law & Order: SVU’: Demore Barnes Returns To Reprise Christian Garland Role

deadline.com:

A familiar face will be returning to Law & Order: SVU. Demore Barnes, who portrayed Deputy Chief Christian Garland in the NBC procedural, will return to reprise the role in an upcoming episode, Deadline has confirmed.Garland joined the series in the 21st season as a recurring and was promoted to series regular in Season 22.

He exited the series in the second half of the Season 23 premiere, “Never Turn Your Back On Them”. Barnes’ Garland had left his job after disagreeing with higher-ups about the way police misconduct was being handled in a controversial case.Barnes was recently spotted filming scenes in NYC for the drama series, leading to questions about his return, first reported by Give Me My Remote.

He will appear in the April 28th episode.At the time of his departure, Barnes said he was in the dark about why his character had been written out of the show.“While I know you were happy that I was here, and that I’m happy that I was here, I also know you’re sad and surprised and I am too,” Barnes admitted in an Instagram post addressed to his fans and the SVU audience shortly after his exit. “I don’t totally know why this happened.”Adding that he was “so very proud to have played the first Black deputy chief in SVU history” Barnes thanked Wolf Entertainment leadership for bringing him into the world of SVU in the first place and called for more opportunities to showcase marginalized voices.“I hope that Wolf Entertainment’s leadership, in giving me opportunity amplify vital voice and story, will result in many studios continuing to open doors of opportunities for others to do the same,” he added. “This must continue.”Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio