Liam must say sorry if blacklash is to fizzle out
LIAM Neeson’s denial he is a racist after admitting how he once went looking for a “black b ***** d” to kill after a pal was raped raised more questions then it answered.
The Hollywood star appeared on US television as the backlash continued over his comments – but he issued no apology.
During an interview to promote his latest film he told how he managed to channel the emotions of revenge for his character from those he felt after the incident 40 years ago.
He told how he went into black communities looking for a man to challenge him which would allow him, he said, to lash out.
He added: “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 b ****** ’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him.”
In the immediate furore, Neeson, 66, took to Good Morning America to try and defuse the anger.
When asked if it was just the man’s race he asked his friend about, he said he also quizzed her about the attacker’s size.
He then said: “If she had said he was Irish or Scot or a brit or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect.”
Was he assuming Irish, Scots, brits and Lithuanians cannot be black?
Sometimes in life people need to know when to stop digging.
In Neeson’s case, he needs to put the shovel down and apologise.