The 'Taken' star was initially set to stop by the late-night talk show on the Friday, February 8 episode to promote his new movie 'Cold Pursuit'.

• Feb 7, 2019

AceShowbiz - Liam Neeson apparently can't take the heat. The "Taken" actor is reportedly canceling his scheduled appearance for "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" amid backlash he's receiving for racist revenge story. TheWrap is the first to report.

The actor allegedly was initially set to stop by the Stephen Colbert-hosted late-nigth talk show on the Friday, February 8 episode to promote his new movie "Cold Pursuit". Following the cancellation, it was reported "The Wife" star Glenn Close would appear in his place.

It arrives after fans plan to boycott "Men in Black International", another movie starring Liam. Internet urges the movie to remove scenes featuring the actor with one user writing, "Was really excited for Men in Black: International with @chrishemsworth & @TessaThompson_x. Was 1 of my most anticapated (sic) films for 2019. Hated his casting before the horrifying controversy, but now really hope it's not too late to digitally erase racist f*** Liam Neeson from it."

The boycott is not the only aftermath that Liam is facing after his controversial remarks that anger many people. Previously, the New York premiere of "Cold Pursuit" that was scheduled for Tuesday, February 5, was canceled.

Liam landed in hot water following his interview with The Independent, in which he said he wanted to kill a "black bastard" to seek revenge for his friend after she was raped by an unknown black man. "I'm ashamed to say that -- and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could... kill him," he said, adding that he eventually realized that it wasn't the answer.

In an attempt to clarify his remaks, the actor said on "Good Morning America" on Tuesday, February 5, "We were doing a press junket and the topic of our film was revenge. The lady journalist was asking, 'How do you tap into that?' and I remembered an incident nearly 40 years ago when a friend of mine was brutally raped I was out of the country and when I came back she told me about this ... I had never felt this feeling before which was a primal urge to lash out."