Liam Neeson says he’s ‘not racist’ after fantasising over killing a black man
Liam Neeson has denied he is a racist in an interview on US television, after admitting he once set out to kill a black person after learning that someone close to him had been raped.
The actor has been facing a social media storm since making the bizarre admission in an interview on Monday.
He said that he’d walked the streets with a weapon around 40 years ago, wanting to kill a black person after someone close to him said she had been raped by a black man.
Speaking on ‘Good Morning America’ overnight, Neeson said: “I’m not racist” and explained that his comments had been part of a discussion about the concept of revenge
“I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago where a very dear friend of mine was brutally raped … I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out.”
He added: “I was brought up in the north of Ireland. The Troubles. The 1960s, 70s and early 80s … There was a war going on in the north of Ireland. I had acquaintances who were involved in the Troubles. The bigotry. One Catholic would be killed; the next day one Protestant would be killed … I grew up surrounded by that, but I was never part of it.”
Neeson was also asked if he would have reacted the same had the attacker not been black. He replied: “Definitely. If she had said an Irish, Scot, or a Brit, or a Lithuanian – I know I would have felt the same way. I was trying to show honour and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion … It shocked me when I came down … Luckily, no violence occurred, thanks be to God.”
Watch the full story and interview above!
