Muslim civil rights group calls on Bradley Cooper for help

According to the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the number of threats Arabs and Muslims have received since the release of "American Sniper" have noticeably increased.

In a letter to "American Sniper" director Clint Eastwood and star, Jenkintown native Bradley Cooper, the Committee President Samer Khalaf wrote, "A majority of the violent threats we have seen over the past few days are [the] result of how Arabs and Muslims are depicted," in the Oscar-nominated film. Specifically, Khalaf wrote that there have been "hundreds of violent messages" on social media from people who have seen the movie.

Already, Warner Bros.' spokesman Jack Horner told Reuters over the weekend that the company "denounces any violent, anti-Muslim rhetoric." But Khalaf appealed to Cooper directly, saying the actor's "visibility, influence, and connection to the film would be a tremendous force in drawing attention to and lessening the serious dangers facing the respective communities."

"American Sniper," which has grossed $200 million in North America to date, has already broken box office records and is projected to become the highest grossing war film ever. It depicts the story of "the most lethal sniper in U.S. history," Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle.

About the film's anti-war sentiment, Eastwood said Saturday on the Producer's Guild of America nominee's panel, "The biggest antiwar statement is what it does to the families left behind."

[Deadline]