Twitter Rails on Liam Neeson for Shocking Comments About Wanting to Commit Racist Attack

Twitter is railing on Liam Neeson after he admitted he wanted to commit a racially motivated attack after a friend of his was raped nearly 40 years ago.

While promoting his new movie "Cold Pursuit," the "Taken" star recalled to the Independent that many years ago he sought confrontations with black men following the assault of a friend.

"She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way," he said. "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, 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' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."

"It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that," he added. "And I've never admitted that, and I'm saying it to a journalist. God forbid...It's awful, but I did learn a lesson from it, when I eventually thought, 'What the f--k are you doing?' you know?"

After the story went viral on Monday, people on Twitter bashed Neeson for his controversial remarks and claimed that he is a racist. Some even called for the actor to be "cancelled."

"I definitely understand the anger one might feel learning that a loved one was hurt in such a disgusting way," a person wrote. "But I would think that you would want THAT INDIVIDUAL to pay the price. Not just ANYONE of the same ethnicity. That's just an excuse for your racism."

"F--k this guy. His behavior was absolutely disgusting," a user tweeted. "You go after an entire race of people all because of 1 POS. If black ppl were to do that shit for every atrocity white men have done all white ppl would catch it. #LiamNeeson you're a POS and I won't watch ur movies."

Another added, "I understand #LiamNeeson must have had an instinctive desire to seek revenge for his friend, but the racial dimension of this confession is abhorrent. I'm not a fan of 'cancel' culture, but this is something to think about next time you pay to see his work."

On Tuesday morning, Neeson attempted to clarify his controversial statement on "Good Morning America" and expressed that not only is he not a racist, but would have had the same reaction if the alleged attacker wasn't black.

According to Neeson, he originally brought up the incident at the junket when a journalist asked him how he tapped into the film's topic of revenge for his role in "Cold Pursuit."

"I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago where a very dear friend of mine was brutally raped," he told host Robin Roberts. "I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out."

"I'm not racist. I was brought up in the north of Ireland. The Troubles. The 1960s, 70s and early 80s," he continued. "There was a war going on in the north of Ireland. I had acquaintances who were involved in the Troubles. The bigotry. One Catholic would be killed; the next day one Protestant would be killed … I grew up surrounded by that, but I was never part of it."

"If she had said an Irish, Scot, or a Brit, or a Lithuanian -- I know I would have felt the same way," Neeson concluded. "I was trying to show honor and stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion... It shocked me when I came down...Luckily, no violence occurred, thanks be to God."

Despite his clarification, people on Twitter continued to slam the "Rob Roy" star and claimed that his explanation didn't make up for his original remarks.

"Not only is this #LiamNeeson situation is a complete mess. But it goes to show to just to what end white racists will attempt to justify their own racism as logical thought. Rather than face the reality that they are infact [sic] racist or participating in racism," a person tweeted and another added. "Liam Neeson's attempt to excuse his quite literally murderous anti-black racism, in his being from Northern Ireland, is a mess!"

However, one person offered another point of view: "#LiamNeeson is no hero for rightly condemning his own abhorrent past views but equally he is now not the enemy. The reason we campaign against racism and all forms of prejudice is to change views and opinions, if we don't accept when they are changed what do we fight for?"

Whoopi Goldberg also came to the actor's defense on "The View" Tuesday morning -- read here what she had to say.

Read on to see how people responded to Neeson talking both times about the incident.

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