Cenk Uygur: anti-Islam movie 'weirdest movie scam of all time'

On Friday's episode of The Young Turks, host Cenk Uygur explained that the anti-Islamic film "the Innocence of Muslims" was initially advertised toward Muslims as part of a scam.

The film was originally called "The Innocence of bin Laden," Uygur said, referring to the Al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 attack organizer killed last year by U.S. forces, and it was shown for one night in Los Angeles, drawing only ten people. The film's promotional materials, he added, were in Arabic.

"To all Muslims and Arabs good news," read the materials, according to Uygur. "We will show the movie of the century. The Innocence of Bin Laden and will know who is the real terrorist and who killed our women and children."

This, Uygur said, proved the film, which deeply denigrates the holy Islamic figure Muhammad, was a trick designed to entice, then insult Muslims.

"Was the motivation of this movie somewhat financial?" he asked rhetorically. "Apparently yes, in the weirdest movie scam of all time. But was it also apparently to provoke a confrontation? Apparently so."

The film's poster also contained a phone number charging $3.99 a minute, which Uygur said the show's producer called with a pre-paid credit card, only to be told the card would be charged $119 to, essentially, get to leave a voicemail with comments about the film.

Watch Uygur's breakdown of the failed film, aired Friday on Current TV, below: