Michelle Rodriguez: 'Liam Neeson is not a racist because of how he kissed Viola Davis'

Liam Neeson's Widows co-star Michelle Rodriguez has told Vanity Fair that she is certain he is not a racist, because of how passionately he kissed his black co-star Viola Davis on screen.

Fri, 08 Feb, 2019 - 12:00

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Liam Neeson's Widows co-star Michelle Rodriguez has told Vanity Fair that she is certain he is not a racist, because of how passionately he kissed actress Viola Davis on screen.

Neeson stars in the Steve McQueen film Widows alongside Rodriguez and Davis.

“It’s all f****n’ bull***t. Liam Neeson is not a racist,” said Rodriguez at the Foundation for AIDS Reseach (amfAR) Gala New York on Wednesday night.

"Dude, have you watched Widows? His tongue was so far down Viola Davis’s throat. You can’t call him a racist ever.

Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate, especially in the way he does with his tongue—so deep down her throat.

"I don’t care how good of an actor you are. It’s all bull***t. Ignore it. He’s not a racist. He’s a loving man. It’s all lies.”

Just last year, Oscar winner Davis praised her kiss with Neeson in Widows in an interview for the BBC while doing press for the film.

"I'm dark, I'm 53, I'm in my natural hair – I'm in bed with Liam Neeson. And he's not my slave owner. I'm not a prostitute. We simply are a couple in love. I've never seen it before." pic.twitter.com/0vtaUM8338
— Diversity School (@DiverseSchool) November 10, 2018

She said: "I look at the way the film begins with me in bed with Liam Neeson and we’re kissing, and it’s a sexualised kiss.

“And here I am, I’m dark, I’m 53, I’m in my natural hair and I’m with Liam Neeson. I’m with what America would consider to be a ‘hunk.'”

“And he’s not my slave owner, I’m not a prostitute, it's not trying to make any social or political statements, we simply are a couple in love."

Davis said that what stuck her about the narrative of the film as that she had never seen the likes of that on screen before.

"If we are indeed committed to inclusion and diversity and we actually do see people of colour as the same as us, as our counterparts, then why can't you consider a character that maybe is not ethnically specific, why can't you consider someone like me for it?"

Her comments come as Neeson faced major backlash after he admitted wanting to kill a black person on learning a close friend of his was raped, in an interview with the UK Independent.