The actress Michelle Rodriguez defended Liam Neeson while the actor is still enmeshed in controversy from admitting that he wanted to kill a Black person after a Black man raped his friend.
Many have called Neeson a racist, and besides Terry Crews, who stood up for him earlier this week, he’s been under heavy backlash. The “Taken” star also canceled an appearance on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” earlier this week.
But in Rodriguez’s eyes, Neeson can’t be a racist for the way he made out with Viola Davis in the 2018 film “Widows,” where they play husband and wife.
“It’s all f—ing bullsh–. Liam Neeson is not a racist,” said Rodriguez on Wednesday at the amfAR Gala in New York City. “Dude, have you watched ‘Widows?’ His tongue was so far down Viola Davis’ throat. You can’t call him a racist ever. Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate, especially in the way he does with his tongue so deep down her throat. I don’t care how good of an actor you are. It’s all bulls—. Ignore it. He’s not a racist. He’s a loving man. It’s all lies.”
The kiss Rodriguez referred to comes in the opening scene of the film, where Davis plays Veronica Rawlins, who becomes a thief like Neeson’s character after he vanishes.
Rodriguez co-stars in the film as one of Davis’ crime partners, and Davis spoke about the passionate kiss with The Guardian in October.
“For me, this is something you’ll not see this year, last year, the year before that,” she stated. “That is a dark-skinned woman of color, at 53 years old, kissing Liam Neeson. Not just kissing a white man. Liam Neeson, a hunk. And kissing him sexually, romantically.”
“Nobody will pay attention to that,” added Davis. “If you don’t think that’s a big deal, then tell me, why isn’t it happening more? There’s a part of me that can answer that.”
After people caught wind of Rodriguez’s theory on Neeson, people tore into her on social media, including writer and show creator Shonda Rhimes.
“The lack of historical context, bias blindness and willful ignorance required to open one’s mouth and say this about racism is mind boggling,” tweeted Rhimes on Thursday.