Liam Neeson Clarifies Comments About Rape Revenge Plot: 'I Am Not Racist'

Liam Neeson arrives at Good Morning America for an interview on Tuesday (February 5) in New York City.

The 66-year-old actor explained some comments he made about a friend of his who was “brutally raped” where he specifically asked her the race of the individual who committed the crime. When finding out the man was black, he tried to hunt down the “black b-stard” who raped her.

“We were doing a press junket and the topic of our film is revenge,” Liam said. “It’s a dark comedy, but its basis is revenge. The lady journalist asked me how I tapped into that. I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago where a dear friend of mine was brutally raped. I was out of the country. When she came back she told me about this and she handled the situation herself with incredible bravery, I have to say that. I had never felt this feeling before, which was a primal urge to lash out.”

“She said he was a black man,” he continued. “After that, there were some nights I went out deliberately into black areas in the city looking to be set upon so that I could unleash physical violence, and I did it for four or five times until I caught myself on. It shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me. It hurt me. I did seek help. I went to a priest…I am not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago.”