Despite retiring from the adult entertainment industry a number of years ago, Mia Khalifa can't seem to escape her erstwhile pursuits. The 25-year-old, who once held the title for being the most searched-for performer on PornHub, quickly become a controversial figure in the Middle-East after videos of her performing sexual acts wearing the hijab were broadcast online. The BangBros clip sparked the most outrage in her home country, Lebanon, where critical parties claimed that she had brought disgrace upon the nation, and insulted the Islamic religion to boot.
Khalifa, however, has always been vocal in her own defence. She claims that she has been made a scapegoat for internet censorship in certain Islamic countries, and has closely aligned herself with the feminist movement - which strives for female sexual autonomy.
Her popularity, though, has never dwindled. This week, the former adult entertainer celebrated hitting 10 million followers on Instagram, and she celebrated it in a rather unconventional way.
When you reach a giant milestone, like say, reaching 10 million followers on Instagram, you deserve a cake, right?
That's exactly what Mia Khalifa thought. "I wanted to eat an entire cake in one sitting to celebrate 10 Million followers, but my soon to be former manager had other plans," she captioned a video of herself with the aforementioned cake. "Thank y’all so much for all the love, and even more so for the hate."
In the hilarious vid, you can see Khalifa's former manager smashing her face into the cake, and it's apparent that the she didn't expect that at all.
After leaving the porn industry back in 2015, Khalifa has become a social media personality, webcam model, sports commentator, and she's even considering pursuing a side-career as a cookbook author. "I'm a cook - I've been cooking since I could walk, all different cuisines," she said on Lance Armstrong's talk show, The Forward Podcast. "I'm in process of writing sample chapters. It's a story of my life through recipes."
She's since asserted that death threats are what pushed her to end her burgeoning career as a porn-star. I mean, who wouldn't be a bit concerned after receiving mocked-up photographs of their own beheading?
"It all started to spiral out of control when the death threats from ISIS started coming in. That's when I stepped away".
"As soon as I started to gain popularity that's when I was like, 'Get the fuck out of this. This was not what I was trying to do whatsoever.' I just wanted to let loose and rebel a little bit."
And in what seems to be a condemnation of the adult entertainment industry, the University of Texas at El Paso alum continued, "It didn't validate me. Nothing like that ever does. That's not what you should be doing to try and build your self-esteem."
Mia Khalifa - perhaps unwittingly - has courted controversy with unique aplomb. The 26-year-old, who once held the title for being the most searched-for performer on PornHub, quickly become a contentious figure in the Middle East after videos of her performing sexual acts wearing the hijab were broadcast online. The BangBros clip sparked the most outrage in her home country, Lebanon, where certain sectors claimed she had brought disgrace upon the nation, and insulted Islam to boot.
Khalifa, however, has always been outspoken in her defence. She claims that she has been made a scapegoat for internet censorship in certain Islamic countries, and has closely aligned herself with the feminist movement - which strives for female sexual autonomy.
Now, the erstwhile adult performer has opened up about that infamous hijab sex scene in an interview with BBC HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur, where she revealed that she had no choice but to do the scene, even though she was opposed to it.
"I verbatim told them, 'You guys are going to get me killed'", Khalifa told Sackur, who proceeded to ask why she didn't just say no. "Intimidation," she replied. "I was scared. I knew that if i said no, it would... you know, they're not going to force you to do it, at that point that's rape. No one is going to force you to have sex. But I was still scared..."
"I mean, I have you ever felt scared to... not scared, but nervous to speak up and say something at a restaurant when your food's not right, and the waiter comes by and says, 'How is everything?' I was intimidated, I was nervous," she continued.
After the scene started making the rounds on the internet, Khalifa was threatened by numerous religious groups online, including ISIS. The militant group threatened to behead her, and also sent her mocked-up photographs of her own execution. This, understandably, was one of the reasons why she decided to leave the adult industry;
"They photo-shopped a picture of me being beheaded and threatened that that would happen to me. It does worry me but I try not to show it, because you can't show weakness.
After quitting the adult entertainment industry, Khalifa went onto work as a paralegal and bookkeeper, but in recent years she has become more of a social media personality, thanks to her work as a sports commentator.
Khalfia's segment will air on BBC News TV on Monday, and will also be able to stream online.
Despite retiring from the adult entertainment industry four years ago, Mia Khalifa can't seem to escape her sexy past. The 25-year-old, who once held the title for being the most searched for performer on PornHub, quickly became a contentious figure in the Middle-East after videos of her performing sexual acts wearing the hijab were broadcast online. The BangBros film sparked particular outrage in her home country of Lebanon, with critical parties claiming that she had brought disgrace upon the nation, and insulted the Islamic religion.
Khalifa, however, has always stood firm in her beliefs. She claims that she has been made a scapegoat for internet censorship in certain Muslim countries, and has affiliated herself with the feminist movement - which strives for female sexual autonomy. Now, the erstwhile porn star has opened up about her past, revealing the true reason why she left the adult film industry.
Speaking to disgraced professional cyclist, Lance Armstrong, Khalifa admitted that doing porn was a "huge mistake".
Khalifa described her decision to quit her role as co-host of the Complex sports show, Out of Bounds, after just two months. She explained that the business's West Coast location wasn't suited to her, and that she's now in the process of launching her own venture on the streaming platform, Twitch. "I didn't want to be in LA," Khalifa stated. "It was my dream job but I walked away when I realised I wouldn't watch my own show. I love Complex but they were understanding when I said they wanted to leave."
She also stated that death threats are what pushed her to end her burgeoning career as a porn-star. I mean, who wouldn't be a bit concerned after receiving mocked-up photographs of their own beheading?
"It all started to spiral out of control when the death threats from ISIS started coming in," Khalifa stated on Armstrong's talk show, The Forward Podcast. "That's when I stepped away".
"As soon as I started to gain popularity that's when I was like, 'Get the fuck out of this. This was not what I was trying to do whatsoever.' I just wanted to let loose and rebel a little bit."
And in what seems to be a condemnation of the adult entertainment industry, the University of Texas at El Paso alum continued, "It didn't validate me. Nothing like that ever does. That's not what you should be doing to try and build your self-esteem." [[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BeF3JyWjObS/?hl=en&taken-by=miakhalifa]]
And in a surprising turn of events, the 25-year-old revealed that she's considering pursuing a side-career as a cookbook author. "I'm a cook - I've been cooking since I could walk, all different cuisines," she asserted. "I'm in process of writing sample chapters. It's a story of my life through recipes." Well, there you have it. While Mia Khalifa's life post-porn doesn't quite fit the mould, it's evident that she's putting herself, and her happiness first. And good on her.
Mia Khalifa, the former adult actress, is no stranger to controversy. The 24-year-old had a successful but very brief career in the porn industry, but has moved on to a few different jobs in recent years. However, it seems as if the scandals of her past will always come to the forefront, given how much attention she received from the press and fans online.
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BaXVYKQjrn_/]]
The Lebanese-American woman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History, but decided to become a pornographic actress in October 2014. After only two months she was the most-searched for actress on the website Pornhub, becoming the site's official number one on their list of most popular stars. She earned a lot of attention after an incendiary video in which she performed while wearing a hijab, for which she received numerous death threats and a huge negative backlash.
In an interview with the Washington Post she said the scenes she filmed were satirical and were still nothing compared to the negative light Muslims are shown as in Hollywood films. After only three months in the business, she says she became disillusioned with the industry and quit for good. "I guess it was my rebellious phase. It wasn't really for me," she said in an interview with The Washington Post, "I kind of smartened up and tried to distance myself from that".
More recently she has taken on roles as a social media personality and model, and now hosts a daily sports show on Complex's YouTube Channel, which started earlier this month. Yet her particular sense of humour hasn't changed much, as she has uploaded a photo to Instagram which has angered people once again.
Following events last week, wherein many mistook a photo of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai for Khalifa, she posted this photo of herself superimposed on the Virgin Mary, along with the caption: "When a news outlet mistakes Malala for Mia Khalifa"
[[instagramwidget||https://www.instagram.com/p/BafitMyDtav/]]
As you can expect, this received a fair amount of negative comments, from "I hope you rot in hell" to "I'm gonna go to hell for saying this, but it's going to be worth it. I hope u soon (very soon) die a very agonising, painful and slow death". Another wrote "After this act I will never look at your videos anymore", which is kind of a strange moral stance to take, and one Khalifa will undoubtedly not give a damn about.
Recently, Khalifa was allegedly kicked out of a MLB game for punching a fan who was trying to take a selfie with her. The fan supposedly shoved a phone in her face without asking, so she hit him in the jaw. Later on she denied this had really happened, claiming it was "fake news".
While the above story may or may not be true, she did cause a stir when she sent this bizarre fetish picture to an NBA star.
In case you were unaware, Mia Khalifa is a sports commentator and pundit, social media personality, webcam model, YouTuber, and Twitch streamer. She is also a former paralegal and bookkeeper.
However, most people know Khalifa for her three-month stint in the porn industry, where she gained notoriety for performing a scene while wearing a hijab.
Now, the 27-year-old has taken to social media to share a video with her fans describing the impact that working in the adult entertainment industry has had on her life.
In the video, Khalifa can be seen in various areas of her home, staring with a blank expression on her fans and dance music plays and bright colorful lights flash around her.
The overlaying text reads: "That hourly dissociative attack from remembering hundreds of millions of people’s only impression of you is solely based on the lowest, most toxic, most uncharacteristic 3 months of your life when you were 21."
Fans then flooded to the comments section to provide an outpouring of support for Khalifa.
One person commented: "You seem like such a strong confident woman but it’s okay to be vulnerable sometimes. you have grown so much!"
[[imagecaption|| Credit: TikTok]]
And another TikTok user typed: "You’re very funny and charismatic. Don’t let the past define you, you’re so much better than that."
This is not the first time Mia has spoken out about her time in the industry.
During an interview with BBC HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur, Khalifa revealed that she had no choice but to do the controversial scene, even though she was opposed to it.
"I verbatim told them, 'You guys are going to get me killed'", Khalifa told Sackur, who proceeded to ask why she didn't just say no. "Intimidation," she replied. "I was scared. I knew that if i said no, it would... you know, they're not going to force you to do it, at that point that's rape. No one is going to force you to have sex. But I was still scared..."
"I mean, I have you ever felt scared to... not scared, but nervous to speak up and say something at a restaurant when your food's not right, and the waiter comes by and says, 'How is everything?' I was intimidated, I was nervous," she continued.
After the scene started making the rounds on the internet, Khalifa was threatened by numerous religious groups online, including ISIS. The militant group threatened to behead her, and also sent her mocked-up photographs of her own execution.
This, understandably, was one of the reasons why she decided to leave the adult industry, as she explains:
"They photoshopped a picture of me being beheaded and threatened that that would happen to me. It does worry me, but I try not to show it, because you can't show weakness.
"That's exactly what they're looking for. I really try and just make it look like it rolls off, but I'll admit, it gets to you after a while."
During the revealing interview, Sackur asked about whether or not Mia's family had any idea about her career choice, to which Khalifa replied: "No."
This past week, social media personality and sports commentator Mia Khalifa has been open with fans regarding the lasting impact her three-month stint as an adult entertainment actress has had on her life.
Back in 2014, a 21-year-old Khalifa starred in 11 adult movies over a three-month period.
However, due to one of those videos gaining notoriety as a result of Khalifa wearing a hijab in various scenes, Khalifa's popularity in the industry sky-rocketed, and she remains one of the most-search actresses on X-rated sites.
Despite this, Khalifa maintains that she only ever made $12,000 from those movies - and in one TikTok video posted earlier this week, the now 27-year-old opened up about the lasting effect those three months are still having on her life today.
The Lebanese-American sports pundit wrote: "That hourly dissociative attack from remembering hundreds of millions of people's only impression of you is solely based on the lowest, most toxic, most uncharacteristic three months of your life when you were 21."
In an additional post to her Instagram Stories, Khalifa wrote: "Those 11 videos will haunt me until I die, and I don't want another girl to go through that - because no one should."
Amid support and criticism from social media users, Khalifa then revealed in a tweet:
"I just want B*angbros to stop actively putting me in harm's way by promoting my 6-year-old videos like they're new, making millions of ppl think I'm still active. The death threats are emotionally crippling, I haven't felt safe even going to the grocery store alone in years."
After sharing her side story, fans have rallied behind Khalifa, demanding that her videos are removed from any websites currently hosting them until she is fairly compensated.
Fans have taken to all social media platforms, using the hashtag #JusticeForMia to demand change:
One fan even started a change.org petition, which currently has over 550,000 signatures, as of this writing.
[[imagecaption|| Credit: Change.org]]
The petition - titled: "Justice For Mia Khalifa" - states that Mia's "infamous hijab video" lead to the star receiving "ISIS death threats" and consequenlty resulted in Khalifa undergoing "therapy on a consistent basis for trauma, emotional distress, and consequences of bullying."
The petition description adds: "Mia and her team have provided countless financial offers to the current owners of her domain name and pornographic videos to no avail. Big corporations are not giving Mia Khalifa a fair chance to demand her content in court due to financial advantage.
"We are demanding her domain names be returned, her videos be removed and fairly discussed in court without putting Mia Khalifa into deep financial ruin. Mia has stated her regret for her decisions in the porn industry multiple times."
The petition ends by asking people to consider signing, in an effort to "Mia Khalifa’s future endeavors and to bring her justice."
In response to the outpouring of support, Khalifa shared a heartfelt message to her 20.7 million Instagram followers that read:
"Look what y’all did... I love you so much. #GenZ, and especially the creator of the hashtag, Bella, haven’t stopped spreading awareness in 4 days and this is the result.
"I promise I will make #justiceformia the first step to change, this movement these girls have started will shed light on the predatory practices of that industry, and help save the annual thousands of girls from the same traps.
"Shop ethical. Support the WOMEN who own & distribute their content, not the ones exploited by having no control of their bodies.
"ALSO, please keep the momentum going for causes that need more attention than anything else right now. Most of which being the humanitarian crisis in Yemen, the ongoing BLM fight, and COVID safety (wear a f***ing mask)."
The message was accompanied with video that showed a mashup of social media posts supporting the 27-year-old.
This is not the first time Mia has attempted to speak out about her time in the industry.
During an interview with BBC HARDtalk's Stephen Sackur, Khalifa revealed that she had no choice but to do the controversial scene, even though she was opposed to it.
"I verbatim told them, 'You guys are going to get me killed'", Khalifa told Sackur, who proceeded to ask why she didn't just say no. "Intimidation," she replied. "I was scared. I knew that if i said no, it would... you know, they're not going to force you to do it, at that point that's rape. No one is going to force you to have sex. But I was still scared..."
"I mean, I have you ever felt scared to... not scared, but nervous to speak up and say something at a restaurant when your food's not right, and the waiter comes by and says, 'How is everything?' I was intimidated, I was nervous," she continued.
After the scene started making the rounds on the internet, Khalifa was threatened by numerous religious groups online, including ISIS. The militant group threatened to behead her, and also sent her mocked-up photographs of her own execution.
This, understandably, was one of the reasons why she decided to leave the adult industry, as she explains:
"They photoshopped a picture of me being beheaded and threatened that that would happen to me. It does worry me, but I try not to show it, because you can't show weakness.
"That's exactly what they're looking for. I really try and just make it look like it rolls off, but I'll admit, it gets to you after a while."
Despite her own struggles, Khalifa has since taken to Instagram to say that she will continue using her platform to prevent other young women from being taken advantage of.
Writing to her 3.3 million Twitter fans, she wrote in all caps: "EVEN IF I FAIL FIGHTING FOR MY LIFE BACK, IM NOT STOPPING UNTIL I CAN PROTECT EVERY YOUNG GIRL FROM GETTING TAKEN ADVANTAGE OF BY THESE PREDATORIAL CONTRACTS."
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-100)
.jpg_I4Ebof?tr=cr-0.338.2730.3068,f-webp,q-70,w-1024)
