Zeenews Bureau
Washington: An American actress featuring in an anti-Islam video that has infuriated the Muslim world, sued the presumed director of the film, claiming that she was duped into acting in that “hateful” movie.
The actress named Cindy Lee Garcia accused Nakoula Basseley Nakoula - aka Sam Bacile – of fraud, slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress, filing a lawsuit against him in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday.
She is also asking a judge to order YouTube to take down the clip, however YouTube has refused Garcia`s requests to remove the film, according to the lawsuit.
Ms Garcia says she has been receiving several death threats ever since the anti-Islam film video was posted online on YouTube.
The actress said that she was duped into believing that the movie was a desert adventure and that the script did not mention the word ‘Mohammed’ or any sexual content.
"There was no mention of `Mohammed` during filming or on set. There were no references made to religion nor was there any sexual content of which Ms Garcia was aware," Garcia’s lawyers claimed.
The lawsuit states Garcia responded to an ad and thought she was appearing in an ancient Egyptian adventure film called "Desert Warriors." Dialogue in the amateurish film was later dubbed to include anti-Islamic messages and to portray Muhammad as a fraud, a womanizer and a child molester, and it was also translated into Arabic.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula - aka Sam Bacile - has been named by the FBI as the 55-year-old director responsible for "Innocence of Muslims".
Nakoula, an Egyptian-born Coptic Christian, has been a convicted drug dealer and conman who was released from jail in June last year.
Fearing fierce protests and legal action, Nakoula has gone into hiding along with his family but he denies being "Sam Bacile", a pseudonym used by the person who posted the video online.
A 14-minute video clip named “Innocence of Muslims”, that presents Prophet Muhammad as a womanizer and fraud, went viral on YouTube after it was dubbed into Arabic, triggering violent anti-US protests and attacks on US embassies across the Muslim world.
US ambassador to Libya Christopher Stevens along with four other American staffers were killed in Benghazi attack, prompted by an angry mob protesting over the anti-Islam film.
With Agency Inputs
