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Liam Neeson has reportedly pulled out of US programme The Late Show.

It has been reported by US media outlets that Liam has pulled the plug on a scheduled appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, in which he was hoping to promote his latest movie, Cold Pursuit, writes the Mirror.

Promotion for the film has been derailed by Liam's explosive comments in an interview with The Independent, after he admitted he had fantasised about killing a black person after someone close to him was raped.

He told the Independent : "There's something primal – God forbid you've ever had a member of your family hurt under criminal conditions."

He said: "My immediate reaction was… I asked, did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.

"I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody – I'm ashamed to say that – and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some 'black b*****d' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."

He subsequently denied being racist in an interview with Robin Roberts on American breakfast TV but did repeat the claims he made in the original interview.

During that appearance, Liam reiterated that, "I did it for maybe four or five times until I caught myself on, and it really shocked me, this primal urge I had. It shocked me and it hurt me. I did seek help.”

Neeson continued, saying, “I’m not racist. This was nearly 40 years ago.”

The furore surrounding his comments has led to Lionsgate cancelling a red carpet event for the premiere of his latest, with a source close to the event saying that holding the event would’ve been inappropriate under the circumstances.

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