The actor came under fire for comments he made about Black men in 2019
Liam Neeson chats to Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry) in season three of ‘Atlanta’ (Image: FX)
Horror director and comedian Jordan Peele convinced Liam Neeson to appear in a TV skit addressing his controversial comments from 2019, according to ‘Atlanta’ creator Donald Glover.
Neeson appeared in the third season of the comedy series in a scene that referenced remarks he made during an interview with the Independent in 2019. The actor received backlash for describing a moment in the past in which he walked the streets hoping he would have the chance to kill a Black man after his friend told him she was raped and described the assailant as Black.
Neeson appeared in a 2022 episode of ‘Atlanta’, having a drink at a place called Cancel Club. In the scene, he tells Brian Tyree Henry’s character (Paper Boi) that he “can’t stand” Black people because they “tried to ruin my career”, and are now his “mortal enemies”.
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“But… didn’t you learn that you shouldn’t say s**t like that?” Paper Boi asks in response to his on-screen comments.
“Yeah. But I also learned that the best and worst part about being white is that you don’t have to learn anything if you don’t want to,” Neeson replies.
Donald Glover at the premiere of the third season of FX’s ‘Atlanta’ in March 2022 (Image: Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
In a new interview with British GQ, Glover described the moment he pitched the skit to the Ballymena actor. He said he was initially unsure of the cameo and apologetic for his 2019 comments.
“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.'”
Neeson still wasn’t convinced, telling Glover he would “think about it”. He later sent an email saying he couldn’t do it and wished the show well.
Glover said he then enlisted ‘Get Out’ and ‘Nope’ director Jordan Peele to persuade Neeson that the appearance would be worthwhile. Neeson had told Glover that he discussed his controversial comments with Peele, Morgan Freeman, and Spike Lee after the 2019 interview was published.
Oscar-winning writer-director Jordan Peele (Image: Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic)
“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!'”
Peele, Glover said, thought it was “hilarious”. It was his help that got Neeson on the show.
“Liam hit me back and said he talked to Jordan and his son and thought it’d actually be a good thing,” Glover said.
