Liam Neeson described the onslaught of Hollywood’s sexual misconduct allegations as “a bit of a witch hunt,” Fox News reports.
Speaking Friday to Irish television on RTE’s “The Late Late Show,” Neeson noted that “there’s 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.”
The actor then went further and said the non-stop accusations amount to “a bit of a witch hunt.”
Neeson said the charges are affecting all media people, referencing the case of Minnesota Public Radio (MPR) host Garrison Keillor, who was fired for “inappropriate behavior” without the media outlet ever revealing just what the behavior was.
Keillor told the Star Tribune that his actions were limited to putting his hand “on a woman’s bare back.”
Speaking about fellow actors Dustin Hoffman and Kevin Spacey, who have both been rocked by significant sexual assault and harassment charges, Neeson would only say that he remained undecided when it came to Hoffman because the allegations are all concerned with “childhood stuff.”
“The Dustin Hoffman thing, I’m on the fence about that,” Neeson said. “When you’re doing a play and you’re with your family – other actors, technicians – you do silly things and it becomes kind of superstitious if you don’t do it every night you think it’s going to jinx the show. I’m not saying I’ve done similar things to what [Hoffman] apparently did but it’s childhood stuff,” he said.