Making the rounds promoting his latest film "The Commuter," on Ireland's "Late Late Show," Neeson, borrowing unfortunate language from President Trump, suggested the revelations about sexual harassment in the industry have gotten out of hand and, problematically, how some sexual harassment transgressions are less egregious that others.
"There is a bit of a witch hunt happening,” the 65-year-old actor said. “There are 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."
Neeson specifically referenced author, storyteller and radio personality Garrison Keillor who was accused of inappropriate behavior in November.The actor explained the story. “[Keillor] was listening to a sad story from a female friend of his and at the end of this he put his hand to her back, like this, and she had a blouse on and it was her bare back," he said. "I don't know what the blouse was like. He immediately took his hand away and apologized. She said, 'Don't worry about it, forget about it.' Months later he gets a call from a lawyer—his radio station does, Minnesota Public Radio— saying he inappropriately touched this lady and he was dropped like that.”
Neeson went on to mention Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein, saying their misdeeds just can't compare to the tamer behavior of Keillor or even Dustin Hoffman, the allegations of which he disturbingly described as "childhood stuff."
“I think Dustin Hoffman… I’m not saying I’ve done similar things like what he did—apparently he touched a girl’s breast and stuff— but it’s childhood stuff,” Neeson said, adding. “When you’re doing a play and you’re with your [acting] ‘family,’ other actors, you do silly things. You do silly things.”
Is he right? Well, to a certain extent the points he raises are thought-provoking and should be pondered upon. Of course, Men, and in some cases women, who are very much guilty of harassment deserve everything that's coming to them, but some also deserve to be treated fairly and have due process. The mob mentality currently inflicting the #MeToo movement, a righteous and important movement, could also be its downfall. All of the people losing their jobs over accusations have had that happen to them without proper investigations proving the claims. This could end up costing women dearly in the future, especially if the accusations are not handled properly or fairly. It just takes a single false accusation to have the dominoes start falling on the movement, something we don't want to happen as its brought much progress for women not just in the industry but in vast fields.