Barkley on Smollett: He should have just gone to ‘Liam Neeson’s neighborhood’

NBA Hall of Famer and commentator Charles Barkley mocked Jussie Smollett on Thursday after the actor was accused of faking an assault, telling him he should have just gone to “Liam Neeson’s neighborhood.”

“You wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you shoulda did? Just went up in Liam Neeson’s neighborhood,” Barkley said on TNT’s “Inside the NBA” 

Charles Barkley came with the jokes for Jussie Smollett:

“You wasted all that damn time and money. You know what you shoulda did? Just went up in Liam Neeson’s neighborhood.” pic.twitter.com/DuY1ThVdFC

— Erick Fernandez (@ErickFernandez) February 22, 2019

Smollett, an actor on Fox’s “Empire,” was charged with filing a false report and disorderly conduct after Chicago police said he staged an attack.

{mosads}Smollett told police that two men beat him, tied a rope around his neck and poured an unknown chemical substance on him while shouting racist and homophobic slurs, as well as pro-Trump language. 

Authorities now say Smollett paid two men $3,500 to stage the attack. Smollett’s attorneys have denied the charges against their client. 

Actor Liam Neeson also made headlines earlier this month when he said in an interview that after a family friend was raped he looked for black people to take revenge.

Neeson said that following the attack, which took place decades ago, he went into black neighborhoods hoping to find someone to attack.

He added that he regretted those actions.

“It was horrible, horrible, when I think back, that I did that,” he said in the interview.