It was a bit of a car crash segment.
Liam Neeson has received a strong backlash in recent days for admitting that, in his youth, he had roamed the streets in the hope of a confrontation with a black person, following his friend’s sexual assault by a black person.
The topic was discussed on Good Morning Britain on Wednesday, when co-hosts Susanna Reid and Piers Morgan were joined by EastEnders star Richard Blackwood, Dr Shola Mos-Shogbamimu and Irish radio host Niall Boylan.
Boylan said that Northern Ireland and Britain were very different in 1979, something that was hotly disputed by Morgan and the other guests.
“I don’t think it’s ever been acceptable to do this outside of Ku Klux Klan stuff in the ’50s in America,” Morgan said.
Mos-Shogbamimu urged people to get past the issue of whether or not Neeson is racist and focus on the societal reasons why this was Neeson’s reaction and what it represents about society we live in.
This was rejected by Blackwood, who said: “One thing no one has addressed is that he said he felt ashamed for the revengeful act that he was going to carry out, did he say that he was ashamed he referred to black people as black b’s?”
Boylan was asked if he thought Neeson was racist, to which he said: “I think his actions are racist but I don’t believe he as a person is racist.”
The conversation between Boylan and Blackwood became more and more heated with Piers Morgan stepping in, saying: “Wait a minute! Listen! I am a 53-year-old, soon to be 54-year-old white man.
“I have never had a second in my life where I wanted to go out on the streets looking for a random black man to kill.”
You can watch the full exchange below.
Clip via Good Morning Britain
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