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.

Watch Mia Khalifa discuss her former porn career:

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"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.

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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.

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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."

Mia Khalifa speaks out about her breast surgery: 

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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.

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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."
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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.

In other news, here's the worrying effect that internet porn is having on men all over the world.

The headlines keep on coming from Mia Khalifa, who seems to thrive on causing a little controversy here and there. It was only earlier this week that the presenter, social media personality, and former adult actress caused conflict online for superimposing her face onto the Virgin Mary for an Instagram post. She posted that photo after a picture of her was mistaken by many as a photo of Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai. She then posted the photoshopped image online, along with the caption: "When a news outlet mistakes Malala for Mia Khalifa". It's no surprise that people were offended by the image, but when it comes from a woman who previously worked in pornography, the comments got pretty heated. Despite being known as a porn star, Khalifa actually only spent three months working in the industry before becoming disillusioned with the work and leaving to other endeavours. Before that, she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in History before becoming active in the porn industry in 2014. After only two months she was the most searched for actress on PornHub, becoming the site's official number one on their list of most popular stars. A month after that, she was out. "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". Though she is far from that industry now, she has embraced her celebrity to work as a model and as a presenter, recently taking on the role of host on a daily sports show on Complex's YouTube channel, which started earlier this month. Now, Khalifa tried to start up a conversation with NFL star JuJu Smith-Schuster on Twitter, but he wanted no part in it. She sent out a tweet, tagging the Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver, which read: "You are my new favorite follow on twitter @TeamJuJu #TeamFindJujusBike", referring to his bicycle that was recently stolen. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/miakhalifa/status/922975138814947329]] Writing that he was "not fallin for this", his savage reply has gone viral, getting over 37,000 retweets and nearly 90,000 likes. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TeamJuJu/status/923009470296334336]] He then followed up the tweet with a series of gifs to drive home the message. [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TeamJuJu/status/923010395723280386]] [[twitterwidget||https://twitter.com/TeamJuJu/status/923021770679926784]] Khalifa's love for sport has brought her into the public eye before, as she was allegedly kicked out of an MLB game for punching an over-zealous fan who shoved a phone in her face to get a selfie without her permission. She socked him in the jaw (the story goes), but she later denied these events occurred, referring to the story as "fake news". This isn't even the first time a flirtatious tweet has been sent to a sportsman by Khalifa, who seems to find this activity pretty entertaining. Did you hear about the time she sent a married NBA star this bizarre fetish picture on Twitter?

Mia Khalifa was left in tears after a fan's girlfriend made a seemingly vile joke about her adult film career.

Speaking during an interview with YouTube star Anthony Padilla back in 2021, the 30-year-old former adult star opened up about an incident that left her in tears while she was out having dinner with her friends.

Khalifa, whose real name is Sarah Joe Chamoun, initially rose to fame after embarking on what she described to be an "abusive" career in the world of adult entertainment.

Despite only filming a handful of videos, one of the most controversial being a video in which she performed sexual acts while posing as a Muslim wearing a hijab, the actress immediately rose to fame - at one point she even became one of the most searched adult stars in the world.

Mia Khalifa attends the Acne Studios Womenswear Fall Winter 2023-2024 show as part of Paris Fashion Week in 2023. Credit: Pierre Mouton/Getty

However, after leaving the industry following a short stint, Khalifa became vocal about the abuse she faced at the hands of those who "preyed" on her while she was "vulnerable."

Even after seemingly leaving the past behind, the social media personality opened up about how her former career still haunts her to this day.

"I was at a business meeting in London and I was there with a company that I had just signed with," Khalifa told Padilla during their time together. "It was the two men who were the heads of the company and my manager at the time. We were just sitting down celebrating having just done a great press tour for the project we were working on, and I get come up to [sic] by this guy and his girlfriend."

The man asked Khalifa for a photo, but she refused because she was eating lunch at the time in a professional setting.

While she did admit that she could have handled it better, she couldn't have prepared herself for what was going to come next.

After referring to the man as "rude", his girlfriend decided to throw a cheap and absolutely vile joke at her expense, saying: "I told you that wasn't her. There's not enough c*m on her face. Let's go, babe."

"I didn't really know how to handle it, especially because it came from a woman and especially because I was there for business," she said, telling the interviewer that she went to the bathroom to cry about the interaction.

Luckily the people she was doing business with were completely understanding of the situation and attempted to comfort Khalifa - and it didn't impact their working relationship.

The star also recently appeared on Steven Bartlett's Diary Of A CEO podcast where she talked in more detail about how she originally got into adult film.

"I got talked into eloping to Las Vegas four days after my 18th birthday," she said. "I didn't have a sense of self so I attached myself to someone who was more than happy to abuse that and someone who could see that and see someone easily manipulatable... but at the same time eager to please. It was just the perfect storm."

Mia Khalifa arrives at the 2022 Latin American Music Awards in 2022. Credit: Greg Doherty/Getty

However, things seem to take an even darker turn when her husband, who was in the US Army at the time, presented the adult entertainment industry to her.

"[He] put that whole [adult film] world in front of me and encouraged it," she said before also adding that she prefers not to refer to it as a "relationship."

"I even feel weird calling it a relationship, because the dynamic was not one of a relationship – it was more one of someone who saw a toy to play with," she said.

Featured Image Credit: Pierre Suu/Getty

Mia Khalifa has opened up about how her career in the adult entertainment industry has affected the relationships in her life, including with her family.

The 29-year-old appeared on an episode of BBC's HARDtalk where she spoke about how she got into p*rn, explaining that it was a result of wanting to "rebel."

"I shocked even myself," she told the interviewer, Stephen Sackur, who then proceeded to ask her whether her family had any idea what she was doing when she first started.

"No... And they disowned me when they found out."

She continued: "I felt completely alienated by not just the world, but my family and the people around me. Especially after I quit, when I was still alone, even though I left. And I just realized some mistakes aren't forgivable.

"But time heals all wounds, and things are getting better now."

Khalifa, whose real name is Sarah Joe Chamoun, rose to stardom in her early twenties after participating in a highly controversial sex scene in which she was seen wearing a hijab while performing sexual acts. The film ended up going viral and as a result of sexualizing the religious head garment, Khalifa was subjected to intense backlash, which included death threats from ISIS.

"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," she told Sackur.

"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."

Mia Khalifa at arrivals for 2022 Latin American Music Awards. Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy

In the same interview, Khalifa admitted that she knew the scene would cause an uproar but did it anyway due to "intimidation" tactics used against her.

"I verbatim told them, 'You guys are going to get me killed.'

"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..."

She continued: "I mean, 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."

While the OnlyFans star apologized to people who wear glasses for sexualizing the look, she has yet to address how her actions affected Muslim women who wear the hijab.

This isn't the first time the former adult entertainer has spoken out about her previous career before becoming a social media personality.

Khalifa has previously also spoken out about how manipulative the industry can be, telling the Daily Beast that she was approached when she was at her most vulnerable.

"I was approached at a very vulnerable point in my life," she said. "I went back and shot a scene, and it was terrifying and temporarily validating, but afterwards I felt a little empty.

"Though I still had that pit in my stomach where I wanted to chase that validation again… I think what made me go back and do it again was the attention I was receiving, I was afraid it would go away if I didn’t do what I was asked to do."

Featured Image Credit: Everett Collection Inc / Alamy