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Liam Neeson is facing criticism after the actor admitted he fantasized about committing a racially motivated murder after a friend of his was raped.
Speaking to The Independent during a junket for his latest vengeance-laced action film Cold Pursuit, Neeson told the story for the first time: Upon returning home – the actor doesn’t clarify where – after working overseas, a female friend informed him that she had been raped.
“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” Neeson said. “But my immediate reaction was… I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person.”
Neeson continued, “I went up and down areas with a cosh [a heavy stick], 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’ [in air quotes, the Independent noted] would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could… kill him.”
The actor added that he walked the streets with a cosh for a week or so before that level of anger subsided.
“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,” Neeson said before expressing regret for his actions. “It’s awful. But I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, ‘What the fuckare you doing,’ you know?”
Neeson withheld certain details regarding the rape in order to protect his friend’s identify, and he declined the Independent’s request for a follow-up interview.
The actor’s interview was immediately met with outrage: “Liam Neeson Is Canceled” is the title of a USA Todaystory summarizing the social media reaction to Neeson’s comments. At press time, Neeson has not released a statement addressing his remarks and the subsequent controversy.
