Liam Neeson Addresses His Self-Imposed Dumpster Fire: ‘I Am Not Racist’

Liam Neeson is in hot water after revealing one of his deepest, darkest secrets during an interview with The Independent.

He admitted to thinking about murdering a random black man as a form of vengeance for his friend who was raped.

“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 [Neeson gestures air quotes with his fingers] ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could,” another pause, “kill him.”

Neeson clearly knows what he’s saying, and how shocking it is, how appalling. “It took me a week, maybe a week and a half, to go through that. She would say, ‘Where are you going?’ and I would say, ‘I’m just going out for a walk.’ You know? ‘What’s wrong?’ ‘No no, nothing’s wrong.’”

I’m still confused by his decision to confess this to a publication. Why not just tell your therapist or something?

The Independent continued:

All three of us know – Neeson, Bateman and I – that this is a distressing admission. “I come from a society – I grew up in Northern Ireland in the Troubles – and, you know, I knew a couple of guys that died on hunger strike, and I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland’s proof of that. All this stuff that’s happening in the world, the violence, is proof of that, you know. But that primal need, I understand.”

He continues, more generally, about violence on screen. His tone changes. We’re back, suddenly, to a normal junket interview. But this had not been the average confession to make. As he had admitted, it’s horrible, awful. Is it possible to hear that said out loud or to read those words and not judge? Then again, think of the circumstance – he had learnt someone close to him had been raped. No one would ever want to have to confront that in their own life. Do other people react that way?

I guess I just don’t understand what he thought he’d get from making that confession. It’s been a dumpster fire.

He followed up on GMA. He said he’s not racist.

this Liam Neeson interview is wild pic.twitter.com/n7yTrmheJY

— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) February 5, 2019

“I’m not racist,” the 66-year-old said on Good Morning America. “I was brought up in Northern Ireland. The Troubles. The Sixties, Seventies and Eighties. There was a war going on in the north of Ireland. I had acquaintances who were involved in the trouble. The bigotry. One Catholic would be killed, the next day a protestant would be killed. I grew up surrounded by that, but I wasn’t part of it.”

The actor explained to interviewer Robin Roberts that he visited a priest to discuss the incident and “went power-walking two hours every day” to “get rid” of his feelings.

“We all pretend we’re all politically correct,” he continued. “In this country and same in my own, sometimes you scratch the surface and discover this racism and bigotry, and it’s there.

…

Neeson said he was thankfull that “no violence occurred” and believed himself, at the time, to be defending the honour of his friend. He called the experience ”a learning curve”.

Reactions are all over the place.

“The story has been spun. What he’s done is tell the truth” – Former England footballer @officialbarnesy defends Liam Neeson after the actor said he had thoughts about killing a black person after a friend was raped.

Read the latest on the story here: https://t.co/upuIiUuyPT pic.twitter.com/F4F40OYtjS

— Sky News (@SkyNews) February 5, 2019

Journalist Jeremy Helligar believes while Liam Neeson’s actions were racist, it doesn’t make him a racist. He says Neeson simply ‘lacked awareness’. pic.twitter.com/BK9bMPmW0p

— Good Morning Britain (@GMB) February 5, 2019

Oooooh. Piers has a point.

Thoughts?

h/t The Independent