Liam Neeson tries to explain his racist story by repeating it & claiming he’s ‘not racist’

2018 Arthur Miller Foundation

Yesterday, Liam Neeson’s interview with The Independent went viral for all the wrong reasons. As we discussed earlier today, Neeson confessed to actively seeking out violence after one of his good friends was raped. His version of the story – and I still can’t believe he spoke about this in an interview, on the record – was that he was so undone and upset when he heard about his friend’s violent rape that he went out hunting for black men to assault or kill. Literally, ANY black man. Neeson told the story like it was a teachable moment about revenge, rather than a teachable moment about how he’s a f–king racist.

Well, Neeson’s junket continues and as you can imagine, it’s an absolute mess now. Liam appeared on Good Morning America this morning and poor Robin Roberts was the one to interview him. Just know that at first I chuckled out of discomfort – because he TELLS THE EXACT SAME STORY LIKE HE’S REVEALING NEW INFO – and then I barked with real laughter when he said “power walking.” Just wait for it.

Obviously, “I was brought up in Northern Ireland” is not a good enough reason to look to violently assault, maim or kill ANY black man in the name of revenge. And no, power-walking and going to confession probably won’t cure you of racism either. But hey, it’s cool because Liam is here to tell us that he’s NOT racist, okay? I just don’t understand why his publicist didn’t sit him down and explain to him, “look, man, you really need to not tell that story again.” Because he tells the exact same story the exact same way to Robin as he did to the “lady journalist” of The Independent.

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109 Responses to “Liam Neeson tries to explain his racist story by repeating it & claiming he’s ‘not racist’”

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  1. LaraK says:

    If you have to claim more than once that you are not racist, chances are you are extremely racist. Doesn’t matter who you are.
    That’s just fact.

    • dappadaph says:

      TRUTH…plain and simple.

    • Andrea says:

      Honestly, I have to wonder if he is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. What he said is so offensive and explaining it only makes it worse. He needs to issue an apology immediately and see a Doctor.

      • Kitten says:

        Is that what happened to Ralph Northam.

        Hmmm…seems like a lot of older white suffer from “Alzheimers”.

      • Wendy says:

        Sigh. Why do folks always look for an out like this when a white person says or does something clearly racist? There’s zero evidence out there in the world that Liam Neeson might have Alzheimer’s, and one of the most common things white people do when called out on their racism is to explain how they’re not racist by retelling the story of their racism because they’re so steeped in the racism that they can’t actually see it. But… him having a degenerative mental illness, that’s a hell of a lot easier to cope with, I guess? It’s easier and somehow better to think that than to think, oh wow, maybe racism really IS rampant and often expressed exactly the way Neeson has expressed it? Really? Fuck.

    • Royalwatcher says:

      @LaraK – Yep.

    • Booradley says:

      I have been thinking about how to comment on that. But he said it exactly “it was a primal hatred”. He doesn’t even understand that he has admitted to his racist beliefs, and by definition that’s where racism comes from an unsubstantiated, innate fear and hatred of the other, of black people of brown people whatever. I used to love Liam Neeson, and I watched Love Actually for the first time this Christmas ever and I loved it and I totally understand why people loved it. And now I will never ever see another Liam Neeson movie. I’m not canceling him because I do not believe in this cancel culture but I am so heartbroken and disappointed by someone I once respected. And he did not hear Robin and he did not understand the fear of an innocent black man and every innocent black man and woman who fears for their lives because of that “Primal hatred” that he describes. I’m truly heartbroken

    • Denise says:

      Seriously people. The truth is:. A racist person is going to be racist whether the speak it in public or whisper things at home. I am a black person and when I have heard that a black person has committed a heinous crime, I have said, “they should beat the black off his black @ss”. Does that make me racist? I have also said when a white person has committed a heinous crime, I have said, “they should be some purple on his white @ss”. Does that make me a racist? No, that makes me emotional. I’m appauled and I am angry, so I say what I want to say at that time. I abhor rapist and I have felt the same way as Liam. I don’t care if he is a racist or not, I still like him and his acting. I’m waiting for the movie! There are plenty of other people who react to various violent crimes committed against people they know. At least he had the thought; but, did not do the act. If the did past audit of many successful people’s activities and comments, it is a possibility we would not have any white people on the silver screen or in leadership positions. I’m not saying it’s okay; but, just like trying a criminal case, it is a case-by-case situation. Leave Liam alone, I want to see his white @ss on that silver screen. Ok!

      • enike says:

        exactly, Denise

        I love him, and I dont think he is a racist and feel sad about this situation, but he is a public figure, should have know better tho to talk about it like this, totally wrong choice of words

  2. OriginalLala says:

    If its speaks like a racist, and acts like a racist….

    • Quietus says:

      The biggest red flag is he still hasn’t denounced his racialised reaction (asking the perpetrator’s skin colour and trying to target random people of the same race) to the friend’s horrific experience. He’s only clarified he was disturbed by his own thirst for revenge. Isn’t it so obvious he should have addressed and condemned it in this second interview?

      Mind you, this is the same guy who said he was comfortable with racial profiling a few years back because we all do it.

  3. Aang says:

    I don’t get why he didn’t want to kill any man. His friend was raped by a man. The fact that the man was black seems beside the point to me. Unless you are racist.

    • lobbit says:

      Exactly.

    • Megan says:

      And I guarantee he knows more women who have been raped and assaulted by white men than black men.

    • tealily says:

      Yup. He’s obviously cognizant enough to know that there’s a difference between himself (a man) and the rapist. So why go after an entire group of people? So f-ing gross.

    • Sigh... says:

      It’s SO simple, it’s TOO simple to MANY (incl here) apparently, thus, the growing lists of piss poor excuses (he’s old/crazed, he didn’t KNOW any blk ppl to know better, he’s a widower, meta-MAGAt PR for the movie, he used to drink/must be drinking again, etc).

      Some “woke” people THINK they’re awake, but they’re dreaming.

    • Quietus says:

      Yes, it’s clearly a racialised approach – he asked the prep’s colouring and then went out to seek out that demographic in a very active sense.

      He has not addressed this disturbing fact at all, and this is what people are disturbed about, with the desire for violent revenge – which he addressed from the initial interview – as the secondary element.

    • the other bronte sister says:

      THANK YOU

  4. Darla says:

    Honestly all of these actors are so dumb, it really kills my lady boner for any of them. I never had one for Neeson though anyway. Like how can you have a conversation with these dudes? You have your poisonous racism, plenty of them are totally sexist, and pretty much all of them are straight up dumb.

    • Mich says:

      You see this a lot with actresses as well. They play “smart” characters so people assume they must also be smart in real life.

      • Beach Dreams says:

        Ugh, one thing that irks me is when an actress is dating/married to someone that’s clearly an asshole, there’s a bunch of “what does she even see in him? She’s too good for him!” reactions. People rarely ever consider the possibility that the actress might not be such a great person herself. Charlize and Sean, Sandra and her Nazi ex-husband…

      • Darla says:

        Yeah that is true. I have never really figured out how SB didn’t know her husband was a nazi cosplayer. I don’t know how she coasted out of that one.

      • Jessica says:

        @Beach Dreams

        Still haven’t been provided any evidence of Sandra Bullock being a terrible person. She didn’t coast through anything, no one could find anything negative about her so people moved on. If we cancelled people by proxy everyone would be cancelled.

        Charlize Theron is known as having a stank attitude.

        No one brings up Angelina being married to an alcoholic as her being a bad person. Why because it isn’t fair or accurate.

      • Darla says:

        Oh gosh is the SB thing a backdoor into an AJ thing?

        I’m out!

      • Jessica says:

        @Darla

        I see a double standard with her fans (and the general tone of fans who want to uplift their favorite celebrity) and they never want to admit it. Not sure why two random women who have nothing to do with this thread in the first place were brought up. Just putting it out there.

        I would defend Angelina if someone tried to make her out to be a horrible because of Brad’s actions, like with Make it Right.

      • Beach Dreams says:

        @Jessica: I never asserted that Charlize or Sandra were terrible or wonderful human beings. I was giving two better known examples of the phenomenon I was speaking about. And this was in response to Mich’s comment about actresses, so I don’t get how you think my mention of these two actresses is “random”.

      • Jessica says:

        @Beach Dreams

        It was random and out of place. I understand why you are trying to force it into this conversation (because you just don’t like them) but it’s still a square peg and a round hole.

      • Beach Dreams says:

        @Jessica: No, it really wasn’t “random” and I clearly explained why. But you seem hellbent on making an issue out of nothing so I’ll leave you to it.

    • PhillyGal says:

      Darla, You are absolutely right. He is both racist and dumb. Not a good look at all.

      • SM says:

        Come on. Comparing illness such as alcoholism to racism and fascist views is a terrible, terrible idea. You may dislike Brad (I am no fan of his or Angelina’s) but his mental health or even midlife crisis is not exactly the same as being a racist. I imagine if my husband had issues like that I would do my best to help, I would however be unwilling to live with a nazi.

  5. Rea says:

    I grew up in a very very white part of northern Ireland. Unless you grow up there it is difficult to understand. I’ve had to reprogrammed certain thoughts, that I was brought up with over, the years. There is still very much a sense of other. Look at the troubles. Their is still almost a mob mentality. My friend is Catholic. He was assaulted because some lads were looking for a Catholic to fight as one had offended them. My friend was innocent. If someone from a certain group, whether that group is a religion, skin colour or hair colour offends you some people will just target the group. I hope this makes sense. Liam clearly still doesn’t feel that way about black people.

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      And how exactly do we know he “clearly doesn’t feel that way about black people”?? What indication do we have of that? None.

      • Rea says:

        Because he clearly said in the interview how awful and wrong it was.

      • Valiantly Varnished says:

        @Rea actually he was referring to the revenge aspect. At no point does he mention how racist it was to do that and that he feels bad about. He is commenting on how bad it was to stalk the streets looking for revenge. It’s literally the same story he told in the original interview. He’s had TWO opportunities to elaborate on the racist aspect of his story and both times chose not to do so.

      • Quietus says:

        Totally agree with Valiantly Varnished. Spot on!

    • OriginalLala says:

      He is a racist, plain and simple. Please don’t excuse away his abhorrent and violent behavior.

    • Hotsauceinmybag says:

      I get what you’re trying to get at but… NO. Race vs religion is different. In many respects, it is easy or doable to “turn off” (for lack of a better term) your religion. You can’t just turn off your skin color. I am a mixed race woman who was raised Roman Catholic, but I think when people look at me they don’t see a Catholic (more accurately a lapsed Catholic who is borderline Agnostic), they see a WOMAN, a MIXED RACE WOMAN with a huge Afro. Those are things I cannot turn off.

      I hope THAT makes sense to you.

    • lobbit says:

      Yes – it makes perfect sense. What you are describing is bigotry – racism, specifically in Liam’s case. It is not unique to northern Ireland and it is not at all difficult to understand. What seems difficult for many, I think, is to call it what it is: Bigotry.

    • hezzer19 says:

      Except…clearly he does. The “moral” of his story was that seeking vengeance was wrong and would lead you down a dangerous path. Not that lumping every single man of colour together as a target for vengeance was wrong.

      I mean, I get what you’re saying about reprogramming our thoughts. My family is racist and homophobic (not in the overt Pence/Trump way but still) and I grew up echoing their words without even thinking about it. It wasn’t until I was in college that I had a light-bulb moment and realized that everything I’d grown up thinking was wrong.

      If he’d used the story to speak out against racism, about how wrong he’d been, I might have cut him a break but he didn’t.

      And his response to the well earned criticism is “I’m not racist”? He’s a racist and an a**hole and he’s still cancelled.

    • isabelle says:

      Any war torn area has the boiling pot of rage underneath and cultural PTSD. Then add on poverty and even diversity is effected. War torn areas often become less diverse. Even here in the states look at the South versus northern regions. It has us still divided this many years later after civil war. One however hopefully as they age mature enough to grow out of it and it “lessens”. Try to overcome the environment you are raised in and its bad effects.

    • Louisa says:

      Rea I grew up in a very very white town in Scotland in the 70’s and 80’s. The only people of color I saw were on TV. I now live in NY but you know what, I always knew racism was wrong. I always knew judging anyone based on their skin color was wrong. Liam Neeson was an adult when this happened. I’m sorry, but where he grew up is no excuse.

      • Nanny to the rescue says:

        I grew up in a country that’s 98% (?) white and I have a similar experience growing up, but I noticed one thing: Here, everybody knows and will agree racism is wrong. Slavery is wrong, lynching is wrong, shooting an innocent black man/Roma man/immigrant is wrong, not giving deserving black people/Roma/immigrants jobs is wrong. So in everybody’s minds, we’re good people and all is well.

        But then some sh!t happens and everybody wonders if it was done by the Roma. Or the immigrants (several generations in, it’s the surname that counts). Or if he was our national then surely he had dealings with the Roma or the immigrants. Because that’s the reputation they have.
        Not even going into racist jokes, microaggressions, “positive racism” as they call it (“you’re black, you guys are great at basketball, you MUST play on the team”).

        My point here is that even though people know racism is wrong and are not racist in the same way you’d see in American films – should somebody’s friend be raped and said it was a black man who did it – I don’t doubt the reaction would be similar to Liam’s. Not directly trying to kill a random guy but just the outrage towards a whole group.

        (The rise of the political right in the neighbouring countries isn’t helping. Fearmongering is reaching astronomical heights.)

      • Lilly (with the double-L) says:

        I grew up on the rez, and like most it was rural, and my school was mainly Native. But, there were White families with farms nearby and some came to our school and basically one Black family – we bought our egg from them. Anyway, there was a reddit theme recently about silly/odd things you believed when you were a kid. I thought everyone was Native and Catholic, even though I saw there were differences in looks, homes, cars etc., it just never hit me that there were other races, religions and class. Of course, as I got older (not much older) I encountered racism (you have to go shopping in the city sometimes). So @Louisa I agree where you grow up is no excuse for racism, you understand at a young age it’s wrong and can take the time to become better.

      • isabelle says:

        Heck I live in the PNW and have talked a LOT of people who didn’t have one minority in their school growing up. It isn’t uncommon and for sure factors into peoples fears of the “other”.

        Louisa I say this as a mixed race person, with grandparents who were denied the right to vote, land was taken from family because they were black, etc….It absolutely matters where you are raised when it comes to race. A persons experiences in the South as a minority is different than someone on the west coast. NY city is an entity entirely of its own. Even the type of racism utilized is different. Racism can be aggressive, suppressed or passive and the area you live in often dictates how it is implemented against someone. It shouldn’t matter but it does matter where you grow up and to ignore it, is burying our heads in the sand. It heavily factors into how people see race.

    • Nanny to the rescue says:

      Thanks for your perspective. I was wondering about this (and The Other in general) in the other Liam Neeson thread! Can I ask how many black people North Ireland folks even had contact with? (Asking this because Neeson put black men into a collective group so fast but then couldn’t find one to start a fight.)

    • tealily says:

      I do see what you’re saying, but that’s super f-ed up too. I wouldn’t bring that story up, especially in this context.

    • pottymouth pup says:

      He showed he was racist then & while he may not repeat the behavior now, he doesn’t get that how he described the circumstances & his plans was incendiary showing limited growth.

      He could have said “I handled this in a heinous manner for which I’m deeply ashamed. I asked the race of the rapist & once I heard he was black, I decided to look for a random black guy to goad into confrontation so I could “justify” beating him to death.” He should have noted had he succeeded: he would be no better than the rapist; he would have injured/killed an innocent man solely b/c the guy was black; that he automatically mis-characterized the average black man as a “black bastard” looking for a fight. He could & should have acknowledged his privilege as a white man noting that he prob would have gotten away w/it bc the victim was black & Neeson is white (& would have said the black guy attacked him) & that he would have been supported b/c racism is ingrained & institutionalized.

      Lastly, he should’ve admitted the thought to go find some random guy of a specific race probably would never have crossed his mind if the rapist had been white (unless he wants to make a claim that he’d have generalized against English and/or Protestant) and that, as a white man, he knows that he did what people continue to do today to justify racism by vilifying innocent people.

      • Quietus says:

        “Lastly, he should’ve admitted the thought to go find some random guy of a specific race probably would never have crossed his mind if the rapist had been white (unless he wants to make a claim that he’d have generalized against English and/or Protestant) and that, as a white man, he knows that he did what people continue to do today to justify racism by vilifying innocent people.”

        100% – said it better than I could have.

    • Quietus says:

      Rea, I’ve read more comments on this issue specifically in regareds to N Ireland and I think you’re talking about the importance of tribal retribution in that place at that time: the group being responsible for the whole (tribal thinking) as opposed to black people all being criminals (racism), etc. It’s important to understand but Neeson still made a racialised comment and should have considered the context, time, and countries (broadcast) in which he was making his comments. Also he has not mentioned tribalism at all.

  6. NewKay says:

    I am quite literally lost for words regarding this story.

  7. broodytrudy says:

    Ffs, stop talking. 🤦‍♀️

  8. Dragonlady Sakura says:

    You’re permanently cancelled! Wanting to maim/murder an innocent person because they are black is the height of racism. If the alleged perpetrator was Irish, would he have been prowling the streets? Probably not, because that would be ridiculous. Racist douche bags are so worried about minority’s, when we should be the ones to worry about crazy folks with an agenda. Hope your white supremacist movie fails!

    • burdzeyeview says:

      I wonder if he ever went out with his friends “who were on hunger strike” to look for protestants to kill back in the day?

  9. Beach Dreams says:

    Just go away forever. His initial remorse about the revenge aspect and not the racism said volumes already.

    • Valiantly Varnished says:

      Exactly. He keeps making about revenge while side- stepping the glaring racism of his story

  10. BlueSky says:

    It’s like he totally does not understand how racist this is. It’s like he’s told this story before and no one sat him down to educate him about how upsetting this is to POC.

    He’s an idiot and he’s cancelled.

  11. HK9 says:

    And he still continues to dig a hole for himself. Idiot.

  12. lobbit says:

    The reaction to this on social media has been so disheartening. So many people are applauding this man for being “brave enough to tell his story” – and tying themselves into knots to explain why a white man that spent a week looking for a random black man to assault ISN’T a racist…

    It’s really rough. Some of us have black husbands, sons, etc – we worry about them every day because of shit like this.

    • BlueSky says:

      I’m not surprised. A lot of people relate to this story and probably have the exact same views. There would not be this much sympathy if this was a POC saying they were out hunting white people to beat up.

      • lobbit says:

        Yes, a lot of people relate – and it makes me sick to think that these people could be my child’s teachers or coaches, my co-workers, my husband;s co-workers. These people are cops with guns who wouldn’t hesitate to kill me or members of my family…I could go on…

    • Giddy says:

      We are in an awful period of our history where people feel they have permission to express evil thoughts. Where they can fly that racist flag of theirs high. Nothing, nothing, nothing, excuses this. The only good thing is that the racists are easier to identify, and we can all try to avoid them.

    • Galant says:

      Do you also worry about the violence that those black husbands are sons are statistically likely to inflict?

      • Nona says:

        You mean these stats?
        “Half (51 percent) of violent victimizations from 2012 to 2015 were intraracial, meaning victims and offenders were the same race or were both of Hispanic origin, the Bureau of Justice Statistics announced today. Violent victimization includes rape or sexual assault, robbery, aggravated assault and simple assault. During the 4-year aggregated period from 2012 to 2015, U.S. residents experienced 5.8 million violent victimizations each year.

        While half of the victimizations were intraracial, 41 percent of violent victimizations during the period involved victims and offenders of different races or Hispanic origin (interracial). Among black victims, 63 percent of violent victimizations were committed by black offenders, 11 percent by white offenders and 7 percent by Hispanic offenders. Among white victims, 57 percent of victimizations were committed by white offenders, 15 percent by black offenders and 11 percent by Hispanic offenders. Among Hispanic victims, 40 percent of violent victimizations were committed by Hispanic offenders, 20 percent by white offenders and 20 percent by black offenders. The race of the offender or the number of offenders was unknown in 8 percent of the violent crimes.

        During 2012-15, the rate of white-on-white violent crime (12.0 per 1,000) was about four times higher than black-on-white violent crime (3.1 per 1,000). The rate of black-on-black crime (16.5 per 1,000) was more than five times higher than white-on-black violent crime (2.8 per 1,000). The rate of Hispanic-on-Hispanic crime (8.3 per 1,000) was about double the rate of white-on-Hispanic (4.1 per 1,000) and black-on-Hispanic (4.2 per 1,000) violent crime.”

        I’m a white woman pushing 60. I know plenty of white female friends and acquaintances who have been beaten, raped and in one case, killed. Not one, not a single one, was assaulted, raped, or murdered by an person of color. It was, across the board, white men.

      • BlueSky says:

        @Nona appreciate the info but don’t waste anymore energy engaging this troll. They are just trying to stir the pot, distract and deflect. Just another bottom feeder who is not worth anyone’s time.

  13. Tw says:

    Oh dear god

  14. FF says:

    He’s not racist but I’m sure lots of other not racists will be patting him on the back in private and telling he did the right thing because all black people should shot on sight *wink-wink*.

    He’s irresponsible af choosing now and this political climate to unload his story, likely because he knew plenty would respond to the dog whistle and defend him. So he knows what he did.

    Also, if he doesn’t unpack that he went after any black man because as a celebrity white guy the power and social differential is heavily in his favour, his denials of racism are full of bs.

  15. Cactus says:

    Lmao I never would have guessed Liam Neeson was SO stupid. Lmao. I hope Helen Mirren is sat at home also laughing at him

  16. otaku fairy says:

    How he can tell a story about a time when he was out to kill any black man he saw to get revenge for the actions of one black man, but when criticized for it insist that he’s not racist makes no sense. Even if he wants to frame it as, “But I’ve changed. I wouldn’t do that now”, that’s too serious for him to say he’s not racist. Everyone can probably say they’ve said or thought something problematic or unacceptable about some group of people at some point, but not everyone can say anger once made them okay with hurting or killing random innocent members of that group out of revenge for something another member of that group did. I think the truth is that if someone’s thoughts ever got that bad, they need to be open to the fact that this is a lifelong issue with them, instead of claiming that they’re not racist.

    • Moneypenny says:

      Exactly. If he told the story and said, “I was a horribly racist person then and what I did was awful. I’ve been working through that, trying to not be racist and have learned that all people are equal,” that would have been different.

  17. Giddy says:

    Did he think that by repeating the exact same story again that we would finally get it? That this time we would understand? What do you say to someone so offensive? Hush. Be quiet. Go away. FFS SHUT UP! There is nothing he can say to make us understand his point of view, nothing he can say to excuse his innate racism. Time to retire.

  18. grabbyhands says:

    Aaaand there we go. I knew he’d get around to this sooner or later.

    And unsurprisingly, many people are falling over themselves about how we need to forgive him and how he’s not racist and his reaction was totally normal and it was so long ago!!

    As usual, white men do the absolute least and everyone wants to give them a medal for it.

  19. isabelle says:

    He isn’t very smart is he?

  20. MC2 says:

    Poor guy has just been a victim of circumstances, eh?
    The facts are that he went into a heavily black neighborhood, with a weapon, to hurt someone of a different skin color who was a stranger to him cuz he was pissed. Some poor chap who looked at him the wrong way. Sounds like a one man lynching and, yo, there’s no justifying that. Poor Robin.
    The only bright spot…I’m glad we are talking about the reality of these guys. I wish he’d spent those hours that he was trailing for his innocent victims & spent time with the “friend” who was raped.
    I bet his rage was put on her too, because of her rape, and not his toxic masculinity that someone ‘damaged’ something that was ‘his’.

  21. Rice says:

    They probably paid him a crapload of money to play Viola Davis’ husband on Widows. Or is it that he’s not offended by black women? Well, as a black woman, I really don’t care because I won’t be watching your movies anymore.

  22. Mia4s says:

    As disturbing as it all is let’s face it….that interview will be plenty for the general public. Already a moot point for the general public. His movie has great reviews, it will do really well (especially internationally) and nothing will come of this. Scream “cancelled” all you want ( which….I have my own thoughts about 🙄) but he will be fine. It’s troubling beyond measure how things never really change.

    • Darla says:

      Probably true. I never go see his films anyway, I hate this kind of revenge porn stuff. I will stick with my Marvel/DC movies. There is nothing I can do about this dope because I wasn’t patronizing his stuff to begin with.

    • lobbit says:

      Sure. Thanks for this. Going forward, when I see or hear about Neeson, I will close my eyes, think about my black husband and my wee black child, and scream “CANCELLED” at an ear splitting pitch. It will be cathartic and deeply healing and it will make ME feel just fine – which is all I really care about at this point.

      • Mia4s says:

        Under the circumstances @Lobbit you do whatever you need to. I fully admit I don’t have anything helpful to offer. I’m as shielded by white privilege as I am officially dumbfounded at the whole world.

        I have to say though: the ”cancelled” thing online though has officially descended into parody. If I’m an outsider looking in today I can find statements/tweets online that Liam Neeson is cancelled along with…Demi Lovato. Which would then tell me as an outsider that people are approximately as upset with someone laughing at/making poor taste jokes as with someone….carrying a weapon with the intent to commit a violent hate crime……….???????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

        I swear to god we are we are this close to a celebrity shooting someone in cold blood and the first tweet will be “ugh…cancelled! Just like so and so who worked with that disgraced director!”.

        Some nuance is needed, or there’s really no point to social media pressure/activism at all.

      • lobbit says:

        TBH, I’m not sure how you came to that approximation. Did you compare social media impressions between the two? Like, how are you even quantifying outrage over one versus the other?

        Either way, I think people are upset about xenophobia and racism – immigration policy and casual racism are deeply personal issues for some of us, and if we choose to lean into the “power of our wallets” to make our despair and frustration about these issues known, then so be it.

      • Mia4s says:

        “TBH, I’m not sure how you came to that approximation”

        I’m talking about an outsider looking at it, not an exact measurement. The majority of the general public is not on twitter, so I mean what they would be seeing when they looked at this or when tweets get picked up in news stories. The same word and reaction for everything, it loses impact. “So and so is cancelled!!”, but no one takes that seriously. I mean…Scarlett Johansson has been cancelled 10 times…everyone still went to see Infinity War and her popularity ratings are still great. A person is cancelled until they are in something we really want to see, basically that’s what most people mean. I get that people want to register their outrage, but it’s basically a meme now, not any sort of legitimate or concerted boycott (the “power of our wallets” as you put so well).

        Honestly I’ve probably overthought this but it’s really starting to bug me but given the bigger issue here (completely non-chalant admission of violent racist thoughts) I should leave it; there are more important things to focus on.

      • lobbit says:

        Scarlett took it seriously enough to drop out of movie in which she was set to play a transgender character, though. That’s meaningful. That shows impact. To you it’s all an annoyance – but then you’ve said yourself that your privilege lends itself to a certain kind of befuddlement.

        I don’t think you’re overthinking things – I do think your focus here is interesting, though: You’ve come into this discussion to basically inform or remind readers here that our outrage doesn’t really matter – that no one takes it seriously. You’ve said that all of this (Neeson) is “disturbing” and “troubling,” but your chief concern is less about him than it is about critiquing the ways in which people like me react to him on social media. Like I said, it’s interesting.

  23. Abby says:

    Can celebrities, as a whole, just stop talking? My favorite movies/songs/tv shows are just getting ruined left and right because the ppl involved keep showing themselves to be turds. Makes me not want to watch or listen to anything anymore. People! Be better!

  24. The Other Katherine says:

    Gawd, this is like Ralph Northam failing to resign. Repeating stories about your racist past and saying you are not a racist does not magically make you NOT RACIST. Certainly it doesn’t make your abhorrent past actions any less racist. Please go away now.

  25. Malachite says:

    I read both articles. I was hoping with this interview there would be, somewhere, an acknowledgement of his own f***ing racism! And then, in my little idealistic brain, a discussion of what HE has done over the years to combat his white supremacist thinking. Nope, just confess to a priest, say some Hail Marys, start power walking, and talk about his white-man hurt over his own rage. Like it was just generic anger on behalf of his friend not TARGETING random black men for a sexual assault that he himself was not the victim of. I am full of rage right now, myself. But it is directed at Liam Neeson and the never-ending institutions of white supremacy and patriarchy all over the world.

  26. Michel says:

    The only thing he suffers from is foot-in-mouthism. People really need to find outrage in things that deserve it.

    • Hotsauceinmybag says:

      POT MEET KETTLE ffs

    • Kitten says:

      Yeah he never should have let it slip that he’s a complete racist. Dummy.

    • BegoneOrangeCheeto says:

      A white dude confessing he spent a whole week wanting to kill a black man IS cause for outrage. Look at what happened to Emmitt Till just because some white lady said he flirted with her. (She lied, by the way.) Attitudes like Neeson’s have led to lynchings.

      This IS something to be outraged over.

  27. Slowsnow says:

    The way you tell a story is key. There is nothing in his storytelling that shows acknowledgement of its inherently racist premise.
    I imagine what Viola Davis must be thinking…

    • Tiffany says:

      I am imagining Viola is now doing the master side eye like the one she gave to Jared Leto during promotion for Suicide Squad. That woman can offer a Master’s Class on it and I will pay top dollar to learn it.

  28. Hmm says:

    I’m surprised he didn’t say the ole standard go to line “I can’t be racist because I have a black friend. “

  29. Dee Kay says:

    I second the comments above about how most actors are just not very smart people. Well, they may be intelligent but they are not well-informed, they are not good critical thinkers, and they can’t formulate or articulate their views on complex political or social issues very well. I know that a college education certainly doesn’t guarantee that a person will have these skills but it doesn’t hurt, and the vast majority of actors never got that education. I feel a pang of pity for the Kerry Washingtons, Chris Pines, and Bradley Coopers of the acting world who actually got great college degrees and have to sit around and try to talk to their peers who never took a single course in ethnic or gender studies, and so don’t have the vocabulary to talk about those things intelligently. Pine and Cooper use the word “patriarchy” when they talk about how women in Hollywood are treated and they know what that references — a centuries-old structure of gender-based oppression and discrimination and bias. Then other actors get up and say “Not all men!” when Louis C.K. is proven to be a serial harasser. Ai yi yi. (Again, I definitely don’t think that college *guarantees* that people understand these issues, but it gives people a better chance of reading fact-based scholarship about U.S. politics and society and developing the ability to comment intelligently on contemporary political and social issues.)

  30. Mrs. Peel says:

    Every racist on the planet begins a sentence with ‘I’m not a racist, but …”

  31. Tiffany says:

    Liam,

    Just because you worked with Viola Davis and Steve McQueen, you ain’t invited to the cookout. Stay in your lane buddy.

  32. sammich says:

    This one hurts a bit. I have always loved Liam Neeson. Sigh…I’m just going to save my love for my cat from now on. At least my cat isn’t a disgusting racist douche who will eventually let me down.