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John Barnes, the former England footballer, and one-time rapper with New Order, has defended actor Liam Neeson who made a shocking claim, yesterday, about how he would like to kill a random black man after a female friend of his was attacked, and in an interview with Sky News, Barnes makes some good points, but can you really back up Liam Neeson in this regard??
On Sky News this morning, Barnes said: “I just wanted a few minutes because I think Liam Neeson deserves a medal, and I’ll tell you why.
I’ve listened to the whole transcript. Liam Neeson was talking about his film revenge*, and he’s talking about how revenge doesn’t do anyone any good, and he talks about how with being brought up in Northern Ireland, he knows how destructive that can be.
He went on to tell a story of a situation about a friend of his who had been raped. Now, if you listen to everything he’s talking about. He’s talking about ‘in the moment’, and you can’t blame Liam Neeson for thinking about what he feels, because this is what – and it was a while ago, this is what society has shown him that black people do, and Muslims do. This is what society has wrongly shown him, and the media have wrongly portrayed to him. And so, in that moment, he said for a week, he was going around looking to kill a black person, or a black” (Barnes doesn’t say “bastard”, but gestures quotation marks with his fingers), “and he did that in quotation marks.
What he actually went on to say is that he was ashamed, and horrified about the way he felt, yes? He’s not ashamed and horrified about wanting to commit the act of revenge, he’s ashamed and horrified because that is what he thought about all black people. After a week, he realised he was wrong – he said ‘I was ashamed and horrified about the way I felt’. Now, depending on the way you (addressing the Sky News anchor) want spin this story, now it’s about “I want to kill a black person.”
Anchor: “We don’t want to spin it, we want to think about it and ventilate it. It’s an important subject.”
Barnes continued: “No, no, no, it’s been spun, because if you think about what he’s actually saying, the context, which is why he said to the lady, in his (Taken) voice, ‘I’ve got a particular set of skills’, if you don’t report this in the way it’s meant. Now we’re talking about – and he threatened to kill the woman**
What he’s actually saying, is he’s horrified and ashamed about the way he felt. He went on to say that, that’s exactly what he went on to say, which meant he’s ashamed of the way he felt but you cannot blame him for thinking that, because I said earlier, with the whole ‘Raheem Sterling talking about the influence the media has’, you cannot blame people for thinking – Muslims, because of Muslim grooming gangs, and Jamaican Yardie gangs, then look at Muslims and Jamaicans in a negative light. And he’s admitting that that’s the way he viewed it.
So, for this one black person who raped this woman, he looked at it from the perspective of ‘all black people are racist’. Now, what he’s actually said, is ‘this is what I thought, this is what I saw, and I am ashamed and horrified, and after a week, I said to myself – what am I doing?’.
That is the reality behind it. As much as people are now jumping on this bandwagon about how terrible it is, what he’s done is come out and he’s told the truth.”
In addition, after the anchor said that some people were calling for Neeson to be stripped of his OBE, and for people to boycott his films, Barnes went on to bang on about Winston Churchill: “So, let’s take down the statue of Winston Churchill. He’s a white supremacist and a mass murderer… he’s a white supremacist let’s talk about him talking about the superiority of the Ayran race.”
The anchor butted in: “I’ve just finished the excellent Andrew Roberts biography of Winston Churchill, where it’s unequivocal. He held the views of his age, didn’t he?” (his next words are obscured by Barnes shouting his reply)
Barnes: “So did Liam Neeson!! So did Liam Neeson!! And is Liam Neeson any different? He held the view of not only his age – the age he’s actually happening now! So what’s the difference? How is William (sic) Churchill a hero, when he spoke about he believed in gassing the lesser races, but he’s a hero. And when Liam Neeson comes out and admits he was wrong in what he did, whereas Winston Churchill would never admit he was wrong. Never. And if he was alive now, he would still believe in the superiority of the Ayran race. But Liam Neeson, someone who admits that after a week and half of thinking what he thought, he was wrong – which is fine as far as I’m concerned, we are now pillioring him!”
(*It sounded, there, like he thought the film was called “Revenge“)
(**I think Barnes has said ‘woman’ when he means ‘black man’, but he was talking crazily fast)
And now let’s take a breather with that New Order song, World In Motion, where John Barnes raps in the middle… and below that, you can hear the man speak passionately about defending Liam Neeson, which are the sources I used.
@officialbarnesy John Barnes the only person I’ve seen talking any sense about #LiamNeeson pic.twitter.com/BW5VnVtPLc
— Daniel McHallum (@danmchallum) February 5, 2019
"The story has been spun. What he's done is tell the truth" – Former England footballer @officialbarnesy defends Liam Neeson after the actor said he had thoughts about killing a black person after a friend was raped.
Read the latest on the story here: https://t.co/upuIiUuyPT pic.twitter.com/F4F40OYtjS
— SkyNews (@SkyNews) February 5, 2019
John Barnes getting a lot of praise for his comments on Sky News. On calls to boycott Liam Neeson’s films and strip him of his OBE: “Let’s take down that statue of Wintson Churchill, who is a white supremacist and a mass murderer” pic.twitter.com/0SaKeCCUHo
— Darren Cleary (@RadioCleary) February 5, 2019
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.