CW: This article contains mentions of sexual assault and racial violence.
Liam Neeson has shared a viscerally disturbing story about himself during a press junket for an upcoming movie. It was during an interview with The Independent, and what he said has sparked a rightfully outraged wave of backlash, as well as a conversation on racially-motivated violence.
The story unfolds like this: Neeson said that years ago, someone close to him told him she was raped by a man she said was black. The veteran actor admitted he then went out on walking excursions, armed and hoping to be provoked by a black man so he could “kill him”.
“But my immediate reaction was…I asked, did she know who it was?” He said. “No. What color were they? She said it was a black person. I went up and down areas with a cosh [slang for a blackjack, bludgeon, or similar weapon], 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 bastard’ would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could, kill him.”
Liam Neeson: ‘I walked the streets with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by a “black b******” so that I could kill him’ – Listen to his full comments in our exclusive interview https://t.co/jdWzfip1rI pic.twitter.com/Ma14TG8pNj
— The Independent (@Independent) February 4, 2019
The revenge fantasy story is disgusting, and has prompted conversation around Liam Neeson as well as the cultural bias he represents.
Regarding Liam Neeson specifically, f**k him. Last year Liam Neeson called the #MeToo movement that encouraged women and other victims of sexual assault to come forward, “a witch hunt”. Now he’s sharing a story about his personal suffering from being sexual assault survivor-adjacent, and going out on a literal witch hunt of his own, which treated black men as interchangeable culprits.
The article notes that he admitted he is now “ashamed” of his past “awful” behaviour, but does not indicate any awareness or self-reflection about how his actions were motivated by racial bias.
In the closing remarks of The Independent’s follow-up article, journalist Kuba Shand-Baptiste signals the broader conversation that needs to be had about racial violence off the back of Neeson’s story.
“For what it’s worth, I’m glad that Neeson was so forthcoming about this story that he “never admitted” to anyone else. Because it has shed light on a phenomenon that too few understand and that we need to talk about.” She wrote.
“Although the actor believes that he learnt a lesson from the ordeal after he eventually thought, “What the fuck are you doing?” I’d argue that there’s something even bigger to glean from all of this. Whether we like to admit it or not, racism has and will continue to have a far deeper psychological impact on society than many of us realise.”
That conversation is now in full force online.
Liam Neeson is definitely a reminder that there are folks who walk around hoping to provoke Black people so they can kill us.
A lot of them are in law enforcement and politics.
— George M Johnson (@IamGMJohnson) February 4, 2019
That Liam Neeson interview is just so saddening (and yes, still racist). It reinforces the idea that people of colour, and especially black men, are collectively responsible for the misdeeds of one. And that when a woman is sexually violated, it's a man who is left truly wounded.
— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) February 4, 2019
Based off of Liam Neeson’s validation of his story as trauma-motivated revenge, it seems that he, along with a lot of his defenders, are not in touch with how this attitude is part of a deep-seated cultural bias against black people.
I will leave you with this: at the end of the interview, Neeson politely told me he had a request. He asked – if I were going to use the story he shared, would I be very careful? I said yes – I am always very careful. And then –
— Clémence Michallon (@Clemence_Mcl) February 4, 2019
He said, or else – and he switched to his other voice, his actor voice, the voice he uses in THAT Taken phone scene, and he was clearly joking – "I will find you." https://t.co/TRWz6E0jGu
— Clémence Michallon (@Clemence_Mcl) February 4, 2019
America, like Australia and far too many other countries, is permeated with these attitudes that drive high rates of violence – often-fatal police violence especially – against black people. The readiness to view black men as criminals, interchangeably guilty for any crime, is a core part of that problem.
It needs to be talked about and it needs to change. Hopefully the conversations around Liam Neeson’s disturbing story can help bring that narrative to the forefront.
If you would like to talk to a counsellor about rape, sexual assault or domestic violence, give the people over at 1800 RESPECT a call on 1800 737 732.