The actor also discussed still getting sent violent action roles as he reaches his 100th movie milestone and turns 70

Liam Neeson says Jimmy Kimmel’s controversial jokes about Irish people at the Oscars were “being a bit racist”.

The US comedian has come under fire over jokes he made about Irish people while hosting the 2023 Academy Awards ceremony last week in front of a record-breaking number of Irish nominees in the crowd.

Neeson, from Co Antrim, was not in attendance at the awards but when asked what he thought, he told The Times: “I heard he was being a bit racist. Jokes about Irish fighting, drinking, and all that. I don’t know what to say.”

Kimmel kicked off the jokes in the opening monologue of the ceremony, saying: “It was some year for diversity and inclusion. We have nominees from every corner of Dublin. Five Irish actors are nominated tonight which means the odds of another fight on stage just went way up.”

Liam Neeson pictured on The Jonathan Ross Show in the UK over the weekend (Image: Brian J Ritchie/Hotsauce/REX/Shutterstock)
The Taken actor from Ballymena, who has also faced his own racism controversy in the past, did not discuss that in the interview, but instead reflected on his career to date, as he reaches his 100th movie and the milestone age of 70.

His latest film, Marlowe, which marks 100 in his wide-spanning catalog, sees him once again in an action role, playing Raymond Chandler’s iconic detective Philip Marlowe, who is hired to find heiress Clare Cavendish’s (Diane Kruger) missing former lover.

Following his own iconic Taken performance, the star said the violence and action scripts keep rolling in despite his age.

Neeson appeared to recreate his famous Taken scene during an ice hockey game in New York City recently (Image: Credit: Photo by Michael Simon/REX/Shutterstock)

Asked if he ever thinks there could be a link between violence on screen and in real life, he told the publication: “It’s very much an American problem — that Second Amendment.

“And, OK, I’ve made a few violent films and used a gun quite a few times, but, speaking for myself, I grew up surrounded by violence. Certainly from 1969 onwards . . .”

The star, who grew up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland, added: “And I grew up with matinees. Cowboys slaughtering Indians and vice versa. I loved having a toy gun but was never drawn to think, ‘I wonder what it’s like to shoot with a real gun?’ But gun violence in the US is staggering. A few weeks ago, a six-year-old shot his teacher.”

Asked if it would ever make him reconsider violent films, he added: “It gives me pause for thought, yes.”