LONDON - British-American actor Liam Neeson has said there is a "bit of a witch hunt happening" in Hollywood over allegations of sexual assault and harassment.

Asked about the snowballing series of claims against powerful men, he told Irish television late Saturday: "There is a bit of a witch hunt happening too.

"There's 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 said he was "on the fence" about allegations against fellow actor Dustin Hoffman.

"Because when you're doing a play and you're with your family - other actors and technicians - you do silly things," he told RTE's The Late Late Show.

"You do silly things and it becomes superstitious, and if you don't do it every night you think it's going to jinx the show.

"I think Dustin Hoffman was... 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 also questioned the firing of writer and long-time radio host Garrison Keillor over what his radio station called inappropriate behavior with a co-worker.

However Neeson, who was born in Northern Ireland but also has US citizenship, said he welcomed the general trend towards exposing harassment.

"There is a movement happening and it's healthy and it's across every industry," he said. - AFP