Liam Neeson recently found himself in hot water after an interview with The Independent went very, very wrong. For some reason, that we still can’t understand, he revealed that he once came up with a racist revenge plan and walked the streets waiting for an opportunity to carry it out.
The interview was to promote his newest effort, Cold Pursuit, in which he stars as a snowplow driver out for revenge against the drug dealers who killed his son. During his discussion with the outlet, the topic of conversation turned to the morality of revenge and it was here when Neeson spoke of his reaction to one of his friends being raped, saying:
“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way. 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 ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could…. kill him.
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.’””
In the actor’s defense, he quickly admitted that he’s horrified at his past actions, stating:
“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.”
But it seems the damage was done and now, Neeson’s having to explain himself in an attempt to repair his image. Appearing on Good Morning America, the star tried to clear the air earlier today, saying that he’s not a racist.
“I caught myself on. It really shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me, and it hurt me. I did seek help. I went to a priest, I went to confession (I was reared a Catholic). I had two very good friends that I talk to… to get rid of this [feeling]. I’m not racist.”
Whether the damage can be reversed or not will be told in time, as it always is in these situations, but as we said above, Liam Neeson is definitely in some hot water right now and the backlash has already begun, with the red carpet premiere for the aforementioned Cold Pursuit being cancelled. And with the film opening in theaters later this month, on February 8th, it’ll be interesting to see if the actor’s shocking remarks have any impact on the box office business it does.
