Update: The New York City red carpet opening of Liam Neeson's latest film Cold Pursuit has been cancelled following the actor's controversial comments that he once considered a "revenge" attack on a black man.
The premiere, taking place at AMC Loews Lincoln Square, still planned to screen the movie, but organisers said there would be no photographs or interviews at the event.
Original: Liam Neeson has appeared on TV to clarify the comments he made about wanting to murder a black man.
The Schindler's List actor recently told a story about his close friend being raped by a black man, and how following the incident, he armed himself and headed to black areas with the intent of killing a man who hassled him.
Speaking to Good Morning America's Robin Roberts, Liam explained that he did this "four or five times", saying: "I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out.
"It really shocked me, this primal urge I had – it shocked me and it hurt me."
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He continued: "I did seek help – I went to a priest, I did my confession, I was raised a Catholic. And there were two very, very good friends that I talked to and, believe it or not, power walking – two hours every day to get rid of this. I'm not racist, this was nearly 40 years ago.
"I was brought up in the North of Ireland, in the Troubles, the '60s and '70s and early '80s. There was a war going on in Northern Ireland. I grew up surrounded by it but not part of it."
Liam also explained that his friend had since passed away, and that he had asked other questions about the man's appearance rather than just his race.
Robin asked the 66-year-old if he would have had the same reaction if the crime had been committed by a white person.
"If she had said Irish, or a Scot, or a Brit, or a Lithuanian, I know it would have had the same effect," he went on.
"I was trying to show honour and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion. I'm a fairly intelligent guy and that's why it shocked me when it came up. I came down to Earth after these occurrences happened. Thankfully, no violence occurred ever, thank to god."
Host Robin continued: "This wasn't discovered by somebody, you admitted this. This isn't a 'gotcha'. I give you credit there, but also having to acknowledge the hurt, even though it happened decades ago, the hurt of an innocent black man knowing that he could have been killed for something he did not do for the colour of his skin."
"Or they could have killed me too... at the time," he said. "At the time, even though it was nearly 40 years ago, I didn't think about that. All of those things surprised me, but it was that primal hatred, I guess, that really, really shocked me.
"Violence breeds violence, bigotry breeds bigotry."
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Catherine is an Evening News Editor at Digital Spy, and was the site's News Editor between 2018 and 2024. Prior to that, she worked at OK! Online, and has interviewed a slew of celebrities across her career in entertainment news, including Tom Hanks, Cheryl and Noel Fielding. Catherine also has specialist knowledge in all things drag, interviewing a huge portion of RuPaul’s Drag Race stars, and getting her own drag makeover for Channel 4's show Drag SOS. LinkedIn
