Liam Neeson has issued a statement “profusely apologising” almost two months after landing himself at the centre of a controversy that saw him accused of racism.
Back in February, the Taken actor was asked about revenge in an interview, and recalled wandering the streets looking for, in his words, a “black bastard” he could “kill”, after a friend of his was sexually assaulted.
Days later, he appeared on US breakfast TV to insist he “isn’t racist”, attempting to explain his comments further.
More than seven weeks later, Liam has now issued a more lengthy apology, stating: “Over the last several weeks, I have reflected on and spoken to a variety of people who were hurt by my impulsive recounting of a brutal rape of a dear female friend nearly 40 years ago and my unacceptable thoughts and actions at that time in response to this crime.”
He continued: “The horror of what happened to my friend ignited irrational thoughts that do not represent the person I am. In trying to explain those feelings today, I missed the point and hurt many people at a time when language is so often weaponised and an entire community of innocent people are targeted in acts of rage.
“What I failed to realise is that this is not about justifying my anger all those years ago, it is also about the impact my words have today. I was wrong to do what I did. I recognise that, although the comments I made do not reflect, in any way, my true feelings nor me, they were hurtful and divisive. I profoundly apologise.”
In his initial interview, Liam told The Independent: “[His friend] 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’ [two words which the newspaper refers to him as using air quotes as he said] would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could... kill him.”
While his comments were largely condemned, he did receive support from some potentially unlikely places, including footballer John Barnes, actress Whoopi Goldberg and his Widows co-star Michelle Rodriguez, who faced a backlash of her own with her remarks on the subject.