Judge Denies Request to Remove 'Innocence of Muslims' Trailer
A Los Angeles judge on Thursday morning denied a request seeking to mandate YouTube to remove the controversial trailer for an anti-Muslim film that has been attributed as being the cause of violent unrest in the Muslim World.
Judge Luis Lavin said he rejected the request placed by Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress who is shown in the clip, partially because the creator of the film was not served with a copy of the lawsuit filed by Garcia.
Garcia claimed that both she and her family have received threats and that her career has been significantly damaged since the original trailer for "Innocence of Muslims" was first posted.
Before heading into court, Garcia said, "Emotionally, I am very disturbed," and added, "My whole life has been turned upside down in every aspect."
She claimed that she had no knowledge of the film's true message since the script she received made no reference to the Prophet Muhammad or Muslims. She said that the creator of the clip duped her and that when she saw the final product on YouTube she was shocked.
Garcia called the film "demoralizing[and] degrading," and that she thinks it should be removed from YouTube.
On Wednesday, she filed her lawsuit for slander and fraud against the film's creator, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who has been in hiding since last week when his trailer started garnering attention.
According to the lawsuit, despite Garcia's requests to have the video removed since she claims it violates her privacy, YouTube has refused. Garcia also claimed in the lawsuit that the clip violates her right of publicity and that the post-filming dialogue alterations cast her in a false light.
"[Garcia] had a legally protected interest in her privacy and the right to be free from having hateful words put in her mouth or being depicted as a bigot," the lawsuit states.
As of now, it is unknown and unclear who uploaded the trailer to the site. The video has been linked to violence and protests that have resulted in the deaths of at least 30 people in seven countries, among which was the U.S. ambassador to Libya.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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