When making a cameo appearance on the comedy drama, the 'Cold Pursuit' actor apologizes if he 'hurt people' over his comments that he wanted to murder a black person after his close friend was raped.

• May 7, 2022

AceShowbiz - Liam Neeson has apologized for his 2019 racism controversy. Having incurred public wrath by confessing that he once walked the streets looking to kill a black person after someone close to him was raped many years ago, the "Cold Pursuit" star addressed the controversy head-on during a cameo appearance on "Atlanta".

"You might've heard or read about my transgression, you know, what I said about what I wanted to do to a black guy," the 69-year-old actor said in a scene with Brian Tyree Henry's character Paper Boi. "Any black guy, when I was a younger man. A friend of mine had been raped, and I acted out of anger."

Liam admitted to being frightened by his own attitude at the time, and he also apologized to anyone he offended. He explained, "I look back, man, it honestly frightens me. I thought people, knowing who I once was, [that it would] would make clear who I am, who I've become. But, with all that being said ... I am sorry. I apologize if I hurt people."

In 2019, Liam recalled loitering outside a pub wanting to murder a black person after a friend of his was raped. The Hollywood star made the comments while he was promoting the thriller "Cold Pursuit", explaining how he related to his on-screen character. He said, "She handled the situation of the rape in the most extraordinary way."

"But my immediate reaction was ... I asked, did she know who it was? No. What color were they? She said it was a black person," he added. "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 b***hes' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could ... kill him."