Liam Neeson recalls 'hoping to kill a black man' for revenge
Actor received flak for saying he considered carrying out racist murder after someone close to him was allegedly raped
PHOTO: AFP
Hollywood A-lister Liam Neeson landed himself in hot water after revealing in a recent interview that he considered carrying out a racist murder years ago. According to him, someone close to him was allegedly raped by a black man.
The Taken actor told The Independent that he had never admitted his impulse to anyone before and added that he’s now deeply ashamed of his reaction to the woman’s rape. “I’ll tell you a story. This is true,” the actor said in the interview, explaining that the woman—who he didn’t name—told him that she had been raped by a black man while he was overseas.
“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” he went on. “But my immediate reaction was, I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody—I’m ashamed to say that—and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [making air quotes with his fingers] ‘black b**t**d’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”
Liam shared that it took him a week or two to get over his impulse. He said that it “was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that and I’ve never admitted that, and I’m saying it to a journalist. God forbid.” He added, “All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”
Twitter called out the Non-Stop actor for his racist comments.
"Liam Neeson being ready to take any black life over what one person allegedly did just shows how meaningless and inconsequential black lives are to some. Even him telling the story demonstrates a level of privilege and understating that there may not be repercussions," a user wrote.
"Well, I've seen it all now. Liam Neeson admitted to going around trying to find a black person to kill because someone he was close to got raped by a black person, and the journalist spoke to a psychologist to help contextualise his racism and included it in the article? WILD," said another one.
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The Taken actor told The Independent that he had never admitted his impulse to anyone before and added that he’s now deeply ashamed of his reaction to the woman’s rape. “I’ll tell you a story. This is true,” the actor said in the interview, explaining that the woman—who he didn’t name—told him that she had been raped by a black man while he was overseas.
“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” he went on. “But my immediate reaction was, I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by somebody—I’m ashamed to say that—and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [making air quotes with his fingers] ‘black b**t**d’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”
Liam shared that it took him a week or two to get over his impulse. He said that it “was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that and I’ve never admitted that, and I’m saying it to a journalist. God forbid.” He added, “All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”
Twitter called out the Non-Stop actor for his racist comments.
"Liam Neeson being ready to take any black life over what one person allegedly did just shows how meaningless and inconsequential black lives are to some. Even him telling the story demonstrates a level of privilege and understating that there may not be repercussions," a user wrote.
"Well, I've seen it all now. Liam Neeson admitted to going around trying to find a black person to kill because someone he was close to got raped by a black person, and the journalist spoke to a psychologist to help contextualise his racism and included it in the article? WILD," said another one.
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