Michelle Rodriguez defends Liam Neeson based on how he kisses: 'You can't call him a racist ever'

Michelle Rodriguez has an interesting theory about why “you can’t call” Liam Neeson racist.

Rodriguez, who co-starred in November’s Widows with the actor, told Vanity Fair that you only need to look at how he passionately kissed Viola Davis in that movie to prove her point. “Racists don’t make out with the race that they hate,” she declared.

The star of Fast & Furious is one of the first to publicly speak out in defense of Neeson after he admitted that, decades ago, he wanted to kill a black man because a close female friend had been raped by a man of the same color.

Liam Neeson and Michelle Rodriguez (Photo: Getty Images)
Liam Neeson and Michelle Rodriguez (Photo: Getty Images)

“It’s all f*****’ bull****. Liam Neeson is not a racist,” Rodriguez told the magazine. “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.

“Ignore it,” Rodriguez concluded. “He’s not a racist. He’s a loving man. It’s all lies.”

Naturally, the actress’s hot take riled people up on social media.

Neeson, who has been promoting his revenge thriller Cold Pursuit, attempted to clarify his controversial admission on Good Morning America this week.

“I’m not a racist,” Neeson told Robin Roberts on Tuesday, but said that he had felt a “primal urge to lash out” after learning about what happened to his friend. “I went out deliberately into black areas in the city, looking to be set upon. … It shocked me and it hurt me. … I did seek help, I went to a priest.”

The Taken star revealed that if his friend’s attacker had been white, he would have had the same impulse. Neeson explained that he hoped one takeaway from the story was that there needs to be a larger discussion around racism and bigotry.

After Tuesday’s attempt at damage control, Neeson is lying low. The red carpet portion of the Cold Pursuit premiere was canceled this week, and he pulled out of a planned appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.

It remains to be seen how the scandal will affect the film at the box office this weekend — but at least he knows Michelle Rodriguez will go see it.

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