Erstwhile adult entertainer, Mia Khalifa, is auctioning off her trademark glasses to raise money for victims of the Beirut explosion.
The Lebanese-American social media personality launched the auction in the aftermath of the blast, which killed over 200 hundred people and injured thousands of others. The incident, which has damaged or destroyed much of the Lebanese capital, was linked to the 2,750 tonnes of ammonium nitrate that had long been stored at Beirut's port.
The 27-year-old began raising awareness for the blast last week, encouraging her followers to share photos of missing individuals and donation points.
On Friday (7th August), Khalifa announced the petition on Instagram.
"THE INFAMOUS MIA KHALIFA GLASSES - AUCTION. 100% of proceeds will benefit @lebaneseredcross and their tireless efforts in Beirut," she wrote. "I’ll be on IG live when the money clears to livestream the donation via wire transfer to LRC [sic]."
"I’ve never done an auction or used eBay before, hence the typo in the title from my dog walking across the keyboard, but please spread the word or bid, or donate to LRC. I’m just trying to get creative, there’s always more that can be done and this felt like a cheeky way to raise funds and make sure the conversation and attention doesn’t diverge from this crisis," she continued.
"Creeps are welcome, your money is just as green as ours! I’m putting the link in my bio for a few hours then changing it back to the Beirut Relief resources landing page. After that I’ll house the links/posts in a pinned memory for ready access. HAPPY BIDDING, YA FILTHY ANIMALS! [sic]."
Khalifa described the glasses as "used and abused" on Ebay.
"The novelty glasses are the best prop, I will sign them (if you want), and take one last polaroid wearing them before sending them off to their new home!!!" she detailed. "I’m adding something more to the auction every $25k raised and announcing it on Instagram. Before the original listing was removed at $100k (for reasons now cleared with eBay. This auction is being run with both their, and the LRC’s awareness), the last prize added for that milestone was my retainer."
"LET’S RAISE SOME MONEY TO BENEFIT LEBANON’S MOST VALUABLE ASSET AT THIS TIME OF CRISIS, THE LEBANESE RED CROSS."
At the time of writing, the auction has reached $98,200, with six days to go.
Today (10th August), Lebanon's Justice Minister Marie Claude Najm, Information Minister Manal Abdel Samad, and Environment Minister Damianos Kattar all resigned from their posts.
Per Al Jazeera, the resignations come after a week of unrest and protests following in the country following the devastating port blast on Tuesday (August 4).
President Donald Trump has also announced that the US will be providing "substantial" aid to Lebanon but has not specified how much.
