Actress Cindy Lee Garcia files the suit in L.A., claiming 'fraud, slander, and intention infliction of emotional distress' after she gets death threats following the release of the movie on YouTube.
- Sep 20, 2012
AceShowbiz - Another controversy surrounding anti-Islam movie "Innocence of Muslims" has been brought into attention. A Californian actress named Cindy Lee Garcia, who stars in the controversial film, has filed a lawsuit against the movie's producer Nakoula Basseley Nakoula (a.k.a Sam Bacile), YouTube and its owner Google, as well as 200 other unnamed defendants.
In the lawsuit filed at Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, September 19, Garcia asserted causes of action that included "invasion of privacy, false light, right of publicity, fraud, slander, and intention infliction of emotional distress." The actress claimed that she and her family received multiple death threats since the film shared its trailer and clips on YouTube.
Garcia stated that she was first cast in July 2011 for a film which went under the working title of "Desert Warriors". At that time she was told that the film was about a "historical Arabian Desert adventure." She claimed that Nakoula "intentionally concealed the purpose and content of the film" when she was cast in it.
The actress insisted that the producer never mentioned anything about Muhammad during the shooting of the movie and she was led to believe that there wasn't any religion or sexual content in the film. She said that she was totally duped when Nakoula published the trailer under the title of "Innocence of Muslims" on YouTube this past July 2.
"Mr. Bacile represented to her that the Film was indeed an adventure film and about ancient Egytians," so read the lawsuit. "Based on those specific representations made and the script and the manner in which the Film was shot, she agreed to deliver an acting performance for Desert Warriors."
Garcia said that the controversial movie changed her acting work "grotesquely" to make it look as if she "voluntarily performed in a hateful anti-Islamic production." She added that the film, which presented Prophet Muhammad in offensive ways as a killer and a pedophile, was "vile and reprehensible." She alleged that Nakoula published the movie on YouTube in September with her voice being dubbed into Arabic which later triggered various bloody riots in several Muslim-dominated countries.
Garcia revealed that she had asked Google to remove the movie from YouTube, but her request was rejected. In her docs, she additionally claimed that she had "suffered severe emotional distress, the destruction of her career and reputation." Responding to the controversy, a spokesperson for YouTube told Entertainment Weekly, "We are reviewing the complaint and will be in court tomorrow." On the other hand, producer Nakoula still hasn't released any statement.
