GLASGOW, Ky. — Sam Basile isn’t a moviemaker. All he's done is film some of his kids’ activities.
So the idea that he would be associated with a movie insulting the prophet Muhammed and labeling a religion a “cancer” made him sick.
“I saw the movie after I watched the news and my blood was boiling,” Basile said. “That guy is nuts to make a movie like that.”
Basile, who is originally from New Jersey, lived in California 12 years ago and was called by media asking if he was the director of the film, Sam Bacile. Bacile’s name was reportedly a pseudonym for Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, CNN reported on Friday.
The controversial movie has been linked to protests in the Middle East. Some mobs attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the U.S. Ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed.
Since the protests began Basile has received numerous phone calls. He received seven in one day and his wife answered some as well.
"It's kind of scary," he said. "They got my (cellphone) number. That means anybody could get it."
At first Basile thought it was a joke because he hadn’t heard about the controversial filmmaker.
So far Basile hasn't received any threats but he thought there was a possibility he would be attacked by someone mistaking him for the filmmaker.
"You know, I thought 'they'll look me up on the Internet and think he's in hiding in Kentucky,'" Basile said.
---
Details for this story were provided by the Glasgow (Ky.) Times.
