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title: Mariska Hargitay Met Taylor Swift&#x27;s Cat Olivia Benson
description: Actress Mariska Hargitay hung out with Swift&#x27;s beloved pet backstage at a concert
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og:title: Taylor Swift&#x27;s Cat, Olivia Benson, Met the Real Olivia Benson
og:description: Actress Mariska Hargitay met Swift&#x27;s beloved pet backstage at a concert
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twitter:title: Taylor Swift&#x27;s Cat, Olivia Benson, Met the Real Olivia Benson
twitter:description: Actress Mariska Hargitay met Swift&#x27;s beloved pet backstage at a concert
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# Taylor Swift's Cat, Olivia Benson, Met the Real Olivia Benson

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<!-- video src="https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8WlXTNY.m3u8" -->
## Video: 25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds

[Watch (HLS stream): 25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/I8WlXTNY.m3u8) (0:35)

![25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/I8WlXTNY/poster.jpg?width=720)

_Published 2014-12-11. 25 Iconic Taylor Swift Instagrams in 25 Seconds_


by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


Jun 15, 2015 2:21 PM UTC

by 

[Samantha Grossman](https://time.com/author/samantha-grossman/)


## Samantha Grossman


Jun 15, 2015 2:21 PM UTC

One of Taylor Swift’s cats is named Olivia Benson, in honor of the fictional Sergeant and Commanding Officer played by Mariska Hargitay on _Law & Order: Special Victims Unit._

Well, this weekend, the feline Olivia Benson met the human Olivia Benson backstage at Swift’s concert in Philadelphia. Hargitay, who appeared in Swift’s “Bad Blood” music video,[ joined the singer onstage](http://time.com/3920458/taylor-swift-mariska-hargitay-cara-delevingne/) earlier in the night — and then later, _this_ happened:

“This is Olivia Benson meeting Olivia Benson,” Swift says in the video, which has racked up a casual 1 million likes, “and, um, things are going well so far.”

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