Christopher Meloni reflects on the time a photo of his butt became an 'international sensation': 'What the hell?'
- Christopher Meloni reflected on the now-viral picture of his butt that was taken by a fan last year.
- "My first reaction was 'What the hell?' and it really made me laugh," Meloni said of the incident.
Christopher Meloni reflected on the time a picture of his backside went viral on social media, and jokingly referred to the incident as an "international sensation."
"We were shooting in Brooklyn and an innocent bystander took a picture of me as I was stretching, or just kind of leisurely testing out the mobility of my hunches," the "Law & Order: Organized Crime" star recalled on a recent episode of the "Time to Walk" podcast.
"But they took a shot of my rear end — my asset — and it hit the interweb and became an international sensation overnight," Meloni joked. "It traveled the globe, and I was given the moniker 'Zaddy,' which I believe means an elderly gentleman with a certain patina of sexiness to them."
Meloni famously starred as Detective Eliot Stabler on NBC's "Law & Order: SVU" opposite Mariska Hargitay. Stabler remained a fan favorite for many seasons until Meloni left the role in 2011.
But in 2021, Meloni resurrected the character for a new spinoff, called "Law & Order: Organized Crime." It was during filming for the new show in April 2021 that the picture of Meloni's backside went viral.
"My first reaction was 'What the hell?' and it really made me laugh," the actor said on the podcast of the incident. "But I also felt as though [fans'] response was almost their warm welcoming of Stabler back and me back in this role."
After the photo went viral, Meloni took to social media to respond to fans' hilarious comments. And when one Twitter user asked the actor why he has "so much cake," the "Law & Order" star broke it down for the fan.
"Big birthday(60), big boy(200 lbs), big cake," Meloni jokingly said at the time.