DUBAI (Middle East Eye) – A television investigation broadcast by the Qatari channel Al Jazeera has revealed UAE attempts to influence a Hollywood movie and persuade filmmakers to include insults towards Qatar and the Muslim Brotherhood in it.
The program published exclusive documents and leaks revealing the direct involvement of the Emirati leadership at the highest level in influencing and changing the script of the Hollywood heist movie The Misfits in order to offend Qatar and a number of Islamic personalities, such as Sheikh Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the former president of the International Union of Muslim Scholars (IUMS).
The leaked documents showed how the UAE tried to invest hundreds of millions of dollars linking Qatar to terrorism overtly and indirectly, changing the script of the film, transforming it politically, and directing it to serve its agendas.
Al Jazeera reported leaked correspondence detailing the UAE army’s support for the production of the movie by providing military equipment for filming. Another leaked document referred to a financial transfer to the company producing the film from an institution directly managed by Sheikh Tahnoun bin Zayed, the UAE National Security Advisor.
The television program also aired a leaked letter that revealed an Emirati company’s request to the production team to include clips linking Qatar to terrorism, and incorporate a scene in the movie portraying Qaradawi and showing him as an inciter of violence.