Staff and crew of film that ridiculed Muslims say they were ‘grossly misled’
“He’s very depressed, and he’s upset,” Klein said Wednesday. “I talked to him this morning, and he said that he was very concerned for what happened to the ambassador.”
Klein, however, said it was not the film’s fault that protests had turned bloody.
Casting further doubt on the filmmaker’s identity, The Atlantic quoted Klein as saying Sam Bacile is a pseudonym and “he did not know Bacile’s real name.” CNN could not immediately reach Klein for his response to that report.
An online trailer for the film depicts Islam as a fraudulent religion bent on getting rid of nonbelievers.
Cartoonish scenes show Muhammed as a womanizer, child molester and ruthless killer. Other scenes show security forces ordered to do nothing as rampaging Muslims destroy Christian homes, and a donkey anointed the first Muslim animal.
Many Muslims find any depiction of Muhammed to be offensive — a Danish newspaper’s publication in 2005 of Mohammed caricatures triggered riots — and derogatory depictions of the prophet are considered by some to be worse.
“The film is offensive to the prophet and immoral,” said Egyptian Prime Minister Hashem Kandil. “We call on the great people of Egypt to exercise restraint when expressing their anger.”
Muslim sensitivities around Prophet Mohammed
The prime minister called on the United States to take legal action against the makers of the film, though it was not clear that it violates any U.S. law.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Bacile said he raised $5 million from about 100 Jewish donors to make the two-hour movie in California last year. Based on the trailer, the movie appears to have been produced on a low budget.
The movie, which was posted in July on YouTube, got more notice after Egyptian television recently aired segments and anti-Islam activists, including Egyptian-born Coptic Christian Morris Sadek, promoted it online.
Terry Jones, the Florida pastor whose Quran-burning last year sparked deadly riots in Afghanistan, said he had been contacted to help distribute the film.
“The film is not intended to insult the Muslim community, but it is intended to reveal truths about Muhammed that are possibly not widely known,” Jones said.
“It is very clear that God did not influence him (Muhammed) in the writings of the Quran,” said Jones, who went on to blame Muslims’ fear of criticism for the protests, rather than the film.
Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Jones on Wednesday to ask him to withdraw his support for the film, according to Col. David Lapan, Dempsey’s spokesman.
“Jones’ support of the film risks causing more violence and death,” Lapan said.
Tensions mounted Wednesday as the United States deployed Marines to Libya.
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood — the former party of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy — has called for peaceful protests against the film on Friday, Islam’s day of religious observance.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban charged that the movie was made with the permission of the U.S. government. The First Amendment prohibits the government from interfering with free expression.
President Hamid Karzai condemned the film as abhorrent and an act of desecration. “There could be many deaths once news of this video and Pastor Terry Jones’ comments get out,” said Karzai’s deputy spokesman.
The issue is sensitive in Afghanistan, where throngs of people this year protested NATO’s burning of Qurans at Bagram Airfield. U.S. President Barack Obama said the act was unintentional, but the uproar nonetheless was huge.
In America, a Muslim advocacy group called the movie “trashy” and said its producers represented neither the United States nor the Christian faith.
“We urge that this ignorant attempt to provoke the religious feelings of Muslims in the Arabic-speaking world be ignored and that its extremist producers not be given the cheap publicity they so desperately seek,” said the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
Facebook sprouted several pages dedicated to condemning the film, including one called “Israelis, Jews & Americans Against Sam Bacile’s ‘Innocence of Muslims’ Film.”
A post on that page simply said: “IM-Bacile.”
Witnessing protests in Libya or Egypt? Share your photos on CNN iReport.
CNN’s Jennifer Wolfe, Miguel Marquez, Brian Todd and Barbara Starr contributed to this report.
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