D.L. Hughley responded to Liam Neeson admitting that he wanted to kill a Black person after a Black man raped one of his friends.
The “Taken” actor made the comments during an interview with The Independent that was published on Monday, and he’s since faced a lot of backlash.
“She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way,” said Neeson in the interview. “But my immediate reaction was, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a Black person.”
“I went up and down areas with a cosh [crowbar], hoping I’d be approached by somebody,” he added. “I’m ashamed to say that, and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some ‘black bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something. So that I could kill him.”
Hughley responded to Neeson’s words on Monday and like many found it strange he wanted to learn the race of the man before anything else. He also called Neeson a racist.
“Hold up!! So why does he even care “what color where they”?? wrote Hughley. “If she said ‘WHITE’ would he have been roaming the streets looking to KILL a random white man?? He’s letting those movie roles go to his head. No stunt doubles out here on these streets bihh!! #TeamDL #racism #liamneeson #taken #takeyoasstobed.”
On Tuesday Neeson stopped by “Good Morning America” and talked about the backlash he’s received.
“I’m not racist,” he said. “This was nearly 40 years ago.”
But “GMA” co-host Robin Roberts didn’t let him off that easy.
“You didn’t ask if the person was tall or short, big or small. You immediately went to race,” she stated.
Neeson said he did ask his friends all of those things, and if she said a white man raped her he would’ve had the same reaction. “I was trying to show honor, stand up for my dear friend in this terrible, medieval fashion,” he explained.
But the actor’s explanation hasn’t stopped the bleeding and many have called for a boycott of the movie he’s now promoting “Cold Pursuit.”
You can see Neeson’s “GMA” interview below.
