Trevor Noah has shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding Liam Neeson‘s recent comments.

The actor faced a massive backlash after telling The Independent that he once roamed the streets with a cosh, wanting to kill a “black bastard” after someone close to him was raped years ago.

When the subject came up as part of The Daily Show‘s Q&A session with audience members, Noah replied: “I think it’s really difficult, because in many ways it feels like an onslaught. I can understand, for any black person out there to be like, this s*** never seems to end. You think you get past the age of lynching and then there’s still blackface in 2019.”

:: Read the original, exclusive interview that started a global conversation

“I do think it was a powerful admission, though,” he added. “I hope he and people who hear the story understand the gravity of what he’s saying and that is: ‘If you are not careful, you can have inside of you a hatred that is encouraged or grown by the society that you live in. And you don’t even realise how disgusting that idea is.’”

Noah also suggested that the backlash was more severe because Neeson offered the story unprompted, during the promotional tour for a new film. He posited that, if he had made the confession during an interview with Oprah Winfrey, it would have been seen “as a person admitting to a time in their life when they allowed their hatred and anger to fester into a racism that they were ashamed of.”

Liam Neeson through the years Show all 23 1 /23 Liam Neeson through the years Liam Neeson through the years March 1995 Liam Neeson stars In the movie ‘Rob Roy’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years October 1996 Neeson poses with co-star Aidan Quinn (right) and director Neil Jordan (left) at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie ‘Michael Collins’ AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years March 2001 Neeson poses with the lightsaber he used in ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ at the ‘Movie Action for Children’ auction AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2002 Liam Neeson attends the Tony Award nominees brunch Getty Liam Neeson through the years July 2002 Neeson attends the world premiere of ‘K-19: The Widowmaker’ in Westwood, California Getty Liam Neeson through the years August 2003 Neeson films scenes from ‘Kinsey’ at Grand Central Station, New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2004 Neeson after a press conference for the movie ‘Kinsey’ during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2005 Samuel L Jackson (left) and Neeson (right) pose with Chewbacca at the premiere of ‘Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2005 Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Neeson arrive at the premiere of ‘Batman Begins’ at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2006 Pierce Brosnan (left) and Neeson attend the ‘Seraphim Falls’ press conference during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2008 Neeson poses by the river Thames before a screening of the action movie ‘Taken’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2010 Neeson, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, director Joe Carnahan, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper arrive at the premiere of their movie ‘The A-Team’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2011 Neeson at the premiere of ‘The Grey’ in Los Angeles Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2012 Neeson poses next to the beach closet dedicated to him on the Promenade des Planches for the movie ‘Taken 2’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2013 Neeson presents an award at the Oscars Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Neeson holds his character from ‘The Lego Movie’ as he attends the premiere in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Actors Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyong’o, Neeson and Julianne Moore attend the premiere of their movie ‘Non-Stop’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years November 2014 Maureen O’Hara accepts an Honorary Oscar from Clint Eastwood and Neeson Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2015 Neeson signs posters as he attends a ‘Taken 3’ fan screening Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2017 Neeson reprises his role from ‘Love Actually’ alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster for Comic Relief’s ‘Red Nose Day Actually’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2017 Neeson appears on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2018 Neeson attends the premiere of ‘The Commuter’ in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2018 Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony in Hamburg AFP/Getty

“And I think also, I’m going to honest, that a lot of people take this story a little more seriously because it’s Liam Neeson,” he added. “Because people see him as the Taken guy.” If Tom Hanks said the same thing, Noah joked, “we’d all be like, ‘Really, Tom Hanks?’”