Perhaps one of the biggest surprises in film and television last year was Liam Neeson‘s cameo appearance on “Atlanta.” The actor appeared in the fourth season episode “New Jazz” and poked fun at his 2019 racism controversy. The actor ignited outrage on his “Cold Pursuit” press tour in February 2019 after revealing his past reaction to a friend’s sexual assault. Neeson’s friend was sexually assaulted by a Black man, so Neeson took to the streets with a weapon and hoped a “Black bastard” would “come out of a pub and have a go at me…so that I could kill him.”
In a new interview with GQ magazine, “Atlanta” creator Donald Glover opened up for the first time about recruiting Neeson for an episode that mocked the actor’s racism controversy. Glover wrote the episode himself.
“When I got in touch with him, Liam poured his heart out,” Glover said. “He was like, ‘I am embarrassed. I don’t know about this. I’m trying to get away from that.’ And I was like, ‘Man, I’m telling you, this will be funny! And you’ll actually get a lot of cream from it because it’ll show you’re sorry.’ He asked me to let him think about it. Then he sent me an email saying, ‘I don’t think I can do it and best of luck with“Atlanta,” blah-blah-blah.’ ”
Glover really wanted Neeson in the episode, so he reached out to a famous friend and Oscar winner for help.
“Liam said [after the incident] he talked to Morgan Freeman, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee. So I was like…Jordan Peele!” Glover said. “I hit Jordan Peele up and I was like, ‘Look, man, I got this idea. He said that he trusted you. Tell him it’s a good idea!’”
“Jordan thought it was hilarious! So Jordan talked to him. Liam hit me back and said he talked to Jordan and his son and thought it’d actually be a good thing,” Glover added. “But what was so funny is, like, I forgot to hit Jordan back. I was so excited about Liam doing it. So Jordan hit a friend of mine, and was like, ‘Am I on a prank show where Donald got me to forgive Liam Neeson? Was this a joke…on me?’”
In the “Atlanta” episode, Neeson plays a fictionalized version of himself who meets Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) at a bar named the Cancel Club.
“You might’ve heard or read about my transgression,” the fictionalized Neeson tells Paper Boi. “You know, what I said about what I wanted to do to a Black guy, any Black guy, when I was a younger man in London. A friend of mine had been raped and I acted out of anger. I look back now and it honestly frightens me. I thought people knowing who I once was 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.”
Paper Boi tells Neeson that he “still fucks with ‘Taken,’” adding, “It’s good to know that you don’t hate Black people now.”
“No, no I can’t stand the lot of you,” Neeson responds in the show. “Well, now I feel that way because you tried to ruin my career. Didn’t succeed, mind you. However, I’m sure one day I will get over it, but until then, we are mortal enemies.”
When Paper Boi asks Neeson if he learned that he can’t say racist stuff like that, Neeson answers, “Aye. But I also learned that the best and worst part of being white is that we don’t have to learn anything if we don’t want to.”
The punchline was shocking, but casting Neeson as himself gave the “Taken” star a chance to apologize for his behavior with the support of Glover behind him. Amid intense backlash to his story in 2019, Neeson told “Good Morning America” that his urge to commit physical violence against any Black man shocked him, adding, “It hurt me. I did seek help. I went to a priest…I am not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago.”
“I was trying to show honor, to stand up for my dear friend in this terrible medieval fashion,” Neeson said at the time. “I am a fairly intelligent guy. That’s why it kind of shocked me when I came down to earth after having these terrible feelings. Luckily, no violence occurred. I did want to lash out because my friend was brutally raped and I was defending her honor. It was a learning curve.”
Read Glover’s full profile on GQ’s website.
