It's now confirmed that the man who kicked off an international crisis is a 65-year-old former softcore porn director named Alan Roberts. Gawker's Adrian Chen tracked down casting-call documents from the summer of 2011—when the Innocence of Muslims was still titled Desert Warriors—linking Roberts to the anti-Islam project. Roberts' business partners have said that the director was indeed behind the distasteful film, which was originally shrouded in mystery when screenings led to widespread protests in Egypt and the attacks that killed four U.S. officials in Libya.

A quick look at Roberts' IMDB page reveals that he got his start in '70s softcore porn, helming such sleaze as The Happy Hooker Goes Hollywood, Young Lady Chatterly, and Young Lady Chatterly II. Later in the '90s, he directed such visionary work as Karate Cop, featuring David Carradine, and Round Trip to Heaven (look out for a young Corey Feldman). 

Roberts could not be reached for comment, and colleagues are saying he does not have strong political convictions. Perhaps the producer originally billed as "Sam Bacile," now known to be California-based Coptic Christian Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, deceived Roberts about his intentions with the film, which is what actors have alleged. Vice reported earlier today that the director was named Robert Brownell, but cast and crew have told Gawker that Roberts was the man in charge. 

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David Wagner