Anti-Muslim Filmmaker Used 17 Names, Worked as Bong Salesman
‘Muslims’ Filmmaker Used 17 Names, Worked as Bong Salesman
It appears the deceptive multi-aliased filmmaker behind the shlocky Islamophobic movie “Innocence of Muslims” is even more deceptive and shady than we thought. Another alias used by the now-jailed filmmaker — at least his 17th name — has been uncovered, along with the filmmaker’s history as a one-time flea market salesman of cigarettes and drug paraphernalia.
That’s according to a Monday report in The New York Times, which also features the first interview with filmmaker who called himself (among other things) Nakoula Basseley Nakoula since his movie about a child-molesting Prophet Muhammad went viral. Convicted earlier this month over probation violations, he’s now serving a one-year sentence in jail.
It was only a few weeks ago that federal prosecutors learned that the man they thought was named Nakoula had, in fact, legally changed his “Mark Basseley Youssef” in 2002. That’s despite pleading guilty under the “Nakoula” moniker for a check-kiting scheme in which he used an array of 14 aliases — including “P.J. Tobacco” and “Kritbag Difrat.”
Under his probation agreement, the future filmmaker said he’d never change his identity again. Now, we learn through the Times, Nakoula changed his name right after he got out of jail, this time to “Ebrahem Fawzy Youssef.” And to the cast and crew of “Innocence,” he was known by a different name entirely: “Sam Bacile.” They believed the movie he was making wasn’t about the Prophet Muhammad at all, let alone a slanderous one. (Actors say they were deceived.)