In the middle of an overdue uprising, during the painful, but empowering #MeToo and #TimesUp movements, you can always best be assured there’s no shortage of tone deaf men skulking around the corner awaiting in line to put their foot squarely in their mouths.
Matt Damon has certainly taken up the mantle recently of men not knowing when to shut up and take a time out, but in this weekend’s latest “hold my beer” move, Liam Neeson has come out of the woodwork to challenge for the title of most empathically-impaired man of the week.
Making the rounds promoting his latest film “The Commuter” on Ireland’s “Late Late Show,” Neeson, borrowing language from President Trump of all people, suggested the revelations about sexual harassment in the industry have gotten out of hand and downplayed some sexual harassment transgressions, suggesting they are less egregious than others.
“There is a bit of a witch hunt happening,” the 65-year-old actor told the host. “There are some people, famous people, being suddenly accused of touching some girl’s knee or something and suddenly they’re being dropped from their program or something.”
Neeson specifically referenced author, storyteller and radio personality Garrison Keillor who was accused of inappropriate behavior in November. The actor explained the story. “[Keillor] was listening to a sad story from a female friend of his and at the end of this he put his hand to her back, like this, and she had a blouse on and it was her bare back,” he said. “I don’t know what the blouse was like. He immediately took his hand away and apologized. She said, ‘Don’t worry about it, forget about it.’ Months later he gets a call from a lawyer — his radio station does, Minnesota Public Radio — saying he inappropriately touched this lady and he was dropped like that.”
READ MORE: Dustin Hoffman Grilled By John Oliver Over Sexual Harassment Allegations
Neeson went on to mention Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, saying their misdeeds just can’t compare to the tamer behavior of Keillor or even Dustin Hoffman, the allegations of which he described as “childhood stuff.”
“I think Dustin Hoffman… I’m not saying I’ve done similar things like what he did — apparently he touched a girl’s breast and stuff— but it’s childhood stuff,” Neeson said, adding. “When you’re doing a play and you’re with you’re [acting] ‘family,’ other actors, you do silly things. You do silly things.”
However, Neeson backtracked a bit by the end saying that overall accountability is important. “There is a movement happening and it’s healthy and it’s across every industry. The focus seems to be on Hollywood but it’s across every industry,” he said. Neeson, who is a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, stresses — and perhaps this is his issue — that sexual harassment is happening in places far beyond just Hollywood.
“If you read the stuff I’ve read about how female laborers are being treated, in farms and ranches,” he said. “It’s chilling.” Watch Neeson’s full conversation on the subject below.