Mia Khalifa Will Drop Your Jaw!
Mia Khalifa has won eternal glory as a pioneer Lebanese Muslim woman in the adult film industry.
The only problem is that she's not a Muslim...
That didn't stop fanatic Muslim parties such as ISIS from threatening and ruining her life.
While Mia was a part of the adult film industry for only a short while, her provocative story left a huge mark.
So how did Mia overcome this terrible episode in her life?
It's not an easy read, and even harder to believe.
Click Next to read the entire story
A Whole New World
Mia was born and raised in Lebanon until age 10. Her family is Catholic Christians and Mia attended a luxurious private French-language school in Beirut.
Lebanon was once a majority Christian country in the region, but intense internal conflict and violence decades ago led to a mass exodus and diaspora for many of its citizens.
Up to 18 million Christian Lebanese have emigrated! Mia’s family is one such example, she found herself having to leave her home in the middle of childhood.
Movin' On Out
While many children might cry at the mere thought of changing school districts at that age, Mia thought of emigrating as an adventure. In a way, it was!
Her family brought her to Washington DC, going from one capital to another. But Mia didn’t have proper English to start exploring her new country and was put in ESL classes right away. She describes having a heavy accent for years, but it seems she has completely lost it at this point!
Militarized Mia
Since her parents valued education, they were unsure about the public school system in DC. After all, they were accustomed to fancy French schools in the Paris of the Middle East!
After gaining enough working knowledge in the ESL program, Mia was sent to private school again. But this time, it was military boarding school!
Although many teens would be unhappy about this parental choice, Mia was an out-of-the-box personality in many ways. How did she feel about this transition?
Free At Last
Mia actually says she loved military boarding school. She has described it as the place she finally felt free. How could that be?
The insecurity of not knowing the main language or norms led her parents to become very strict and insular, which is not hard to understand when we really think about the stress involved.
At military school, Mia had a chance to sleep far away from her family's watchful eye and focus on being an American teen.
Texas Tricks
Mia was a great student and went off to university in Texas after graduation. Her high school had a special program that allowed her to gain college credit during the summer — an extra opportunity to stay away from home!
She chose UT-El Paso due to its open credit acceptance policies. Mia had enough under her belt to minimize tuition requirements to three years instead of four! What major she chose? What is Mia really passionate about?
Thrill or Chill?
Surprise, surprise — Mia is a history buff. She felt strongly that she needed to pick a subject that would never bore her, and played low and just focused on graduating early. Nice work, Mia!
Despite this success, something was deeply bothering her. Mia had a vulnerability, and it would eventually lead to the decisions that would shock her family and friends. What was really distracting Mia?
Putting Subway Jared To Shame
During college, Mia went through a huge personal transformation. In fact, Mia spent her formative years struggling with her weight and self-image. By making small changes during this period with diet and exercise, Mia lost 50 pounds!
Mia did a bit of modeling work and bartended to get through school. She even had a brief appearance on a Spanish gameshow as a “briefcase girl”. Despite some of this validation of her new physical appearance, Mia secretly felt she wasn’t attractive...
Diet Aftermath
Losing weight rapidly comes with awkward adjustments. Mia suffered from loose skin and deflated breasts. She said she felt like she was left with the body of a middle-aged woman!
Mia knew wanted to surgically correct this unexpected problem and heard the best place in the country for this procedure was Beverly Hills. In a clever more, Mia moved to Miami after college to get the second-best option in the country while paying normal rent as she recovered at home.
Attention Addiction
Post-surgery, things were looking bright. Mia was a college graduate with freedom from her parents and started to wear more revealing attire as a more confident person in public. In college, she hid her body most of the time with baggy clothes!
Mia describes seeing positive male attention on a level she never experienced in her life. This was intoxicating. She felt validated, and she loved it. Perhaps this was the perfect storm for a chance meeting that would come.
A Surprise Encounter
While strolling in Miami, a man approached Mia and told her she was exceptionally beautiful. He asked if she had ever done modeling!
For a girl with chronic low self-esteem and weight issues, this was a welcome compliment. He flattered her about her body, and actually suggested nude modeling!
The man invited her to take a tour of the studio and see what this business was all about. Mia took two weeks to decide, but her adventurous side took over.
Mia's First Time
When Mia arrived, she was pleasantly surprised. First, it was a very fancy place, and not the scummy setting many might imagine. Second, the office was filled with warm, welcoming women. The cubicles seemed perfectly normal, with family pictures decorating desks.
The charm offensive continued - Mia was asked if she might be interested in porn! Although she was taken aback, she considered the idea. With her body getting top feedback from the outside world now, this was hard to resist.
Just A Little Secret
Mia thought no one would end up seeing her pictures or videos. Social media then wasn’t as all-encompassing as it is now. She thought she'd get swallowed into an internet hole where thousands of girls around the world filmed themselves in similar videos.
Mia moved forward and signed a contract to do a few videos. It’s safe to say she had no idea that her career would lead to the number one spot on adult aggregator sites in no time.
Welcoming Women
Mia describes her experience on set as pampering and glamourous. Hair and makeup took hours, while she was given more than ten menus to order high-end food before work.
The men were very nice and chatted with to make her feel comfortable. All the while, women were present creating normalcy for a situation many may question in broad daylight.
After filming, Mia felt a mix of confusing emotions — guilt and shame were contrasted with a strong feeling of validation.
Spotted Online
Aged 21, Mia experienced plenty of confusion. She felt so beautiful after the scenes were filmed, but this feeling quickly disappeared. Perhaps she would be filled with more self-esteem after the next one! Mia continued onto more gigs.
Mia began receiving messages from acquaintances and friends who seemed to recognize her from her online videos. She started to realize the reality of her decision and felt terrible. The fantasy that this was a private activity was starting to crack.
Playing With Fire
Things took an unexpected turn when producers suggested an unusual script for Mia's next job. Due to Mia’s Lebanese background, they thought a threesome featuring a character in a hijab would be rather interesting for their customers. Indeed, it would be — but not without consequences.
She expressed her concerns — “you mother******* are going to get me killed!” — but that producers simply laughed. Mia said this in a casual way, but perhaps she had uneasiness deep down.
The Final Script
By this point, the impact on her personal relationships was causing her to reconsider her overall involvement in the industry. She rationalized that she would just do one more, perhaps. Maybe this one?
According to the producer: "We weren't trying to exploit [Khalifa's ethnicity]. We wanted to embrace it. No one could have anticipated the negativity surrounding it." Perhaps this echo chamber of encouragement and ignorance contributed to her decision to move forward, and forward she went.
Rage Reaction
Mia was astonished to see her hijab scene suddenly clock over 1.5 million views around the world. She became the top search on Pornhub and would remain the number one performer on the site for some time.
According to the Vice President of Marketing for xHamster: "The outrage it caused in the Arab world ended up being a bit of a 'Streisand effect'. Suddenly, everyone was searching for her. The effort to censor her only made her more ubiquitous."
A Furious Family
In a 2015 interview, Mia said she was surprised about the degree of outrage that exploded after the scene was published online:
“The scenes containing a hijabi are satirical. There are Hollywood movies that depict Muslims in a much worse manner than any scene Bang Bros [the company who made the video] could produce.”
Mia started receiving death threats, and things suddenly became quite serious. Sadly, her family disowned her over the videos. What a nightmare!
Death Threats Galore
Mia actually got death threats from ISIS sympathizers, including a picture of a real decapitated body with her head, photoshopped on. Next, someone online posted a map to her real personal home address.
Mia was understandably terrified, and she immediately moved out to stay at a hotel. She knew this was the end of her career, and her delusions about the entire affair were shattered. Mia resigned, despite protests from executives who refused to acknowledge the real danger to her.
Global Meltdown
Around the world, there were mixed reactions. While some people were clearly offended enough to threaten her with execution, others looked at her decision differently.
British-Lebanese author Nasri Atallah explained his views: "The moral indignation ... is wrong...First and foremost, as a woman, she is free to do as she pleases with her body.” Nasri didn’t seem to think that she owed anything to a country she left!
Long Lost Lebanon
Mia had a lot to say about the circumstances in Lebanon that seemed to follow her all the way to America. She explained women's rights in her former country had a long way to go if a Lebanese-American pornstar thousands of miles away caused such an uproar.
Mia says she used to tell people that she came from the most Westernized place in the Middle East. Mia says she now sees the previously Christian-majority nation as “devastatingly archaic and oppressed."
Get Broke Quick Schemes
Mia only made $12,000 from all of her scenes, which surprised many people. The company made millions!
Mia left Miami, which she described as a toxic city. She applied for normal day jobs, but it seemed she was recognized everywhere she went. This included awkward job interviews!
Mia could barely leave her house and became quite reclusive. Crazy people shouting from cars and invading her personal space became a norm, and it was not easy to live a normal life.
The Sexy Secretary
After a few months, Mia was hired at a law firm for administrative work. She was happy there for a while!
The lawyers did know who she was which made it a bit uncomfortable at times. She was happy they gave her a chance. After all, she was a top student fluent in three languages!
Sadly, the office closed, and she had to continue her job search. She tried bookkeeping, but says she was terrible at that type of work!
Instagram Madness
During her transition back to working life, she had to shut down her Instagram account because of all the threats. No matter what people said, she tried to maintain a sassy attitude.
When someone told her she would burn in hell, she retorted: "I've been meaning to get a little tan recently".
Perhaps a break from social media was reasonable. Mia had plans to return, however, after a serious rebranding. What would her new image be like?
Sporty Surprise
Mia has successfully transitioned into an internet celebrity now, and she alternates between being a social media personality and a sports commentator. Yes, that’s right: Mia is a sports nut, too!
She hosted a daily sports show on the Youtube channel for Complex magazine called “Out of Bounds” with Gilbert Arenas. She built upon the positive audience feedback and landed a co-hosting role on a show called “SportsBall” on RoosterTeeth.
Things have certainly changed for the better in Mia’s world!
Boob-mergency
Mia Khalifa had one pretty public mishap since she started covering sports, though. It seems her previous beauty investment literally collided with a hockey puck during a recent game.
Mia kept the puck as a trauma souvenir! Mia explained on Instagram:
"I got hit in the boob with a puck during the game, and I'm 80% sure it ruptured an implant. But the good news is, I got a game-used puck from a Capitals Stanley cup playoff game. Worth it."
Cookin' Up A Storm
Mia has professional plans in other areas she is passionate about, like cooking!
The now established sports commentator says she wants to be the ‘Chrissy Teigen’ of cooking. She has been running a youtube channel where she takes requests from fans to cook dishes they are curious about, and so far it looks pretty delicious!
Her expertise in the kitchen has led to her to one more surprise in life — falling in love with a real chef!
Sweet and Swedish
Mia says she met her fiance in an unconventional way, but one that might be more and more common in the future because of our social media habits. She casually started following a chef on twitter that was recommended on the Michelin page.
And then, he noticed that a real-life blue checkmark user was watching him. Pretty intriguing!
The new couple started talking about food and developed a relationship online over a period of months. And she was delighted!
A Decent Proposal
Eventually, they flew to meet each other. Things went exceedingly well, and they've been seriously dating ever since! Her chef beau eventually admitted he had googled her after they developed their online relationship. He had to find out why she had millions of followers!
Her past didn’t bother him, and Mia was so happy to find someone she could connect with on a real level. Today, Mia reflects: "I guess it was my rebellious phase. It wasn't really for me."
Activism and Insight
Mia’s done a round of interviews lately calling out the adult industry for its practices targeting young women with low self-esteem. And boy, does she have a lot to say!
At 26, she now sees how they engage in manipulative contracts and pressure tactics. She has suggested legal reforms that might improve the situation, such as prohibiting street approaches to ensure that the girls who get involved in the business are those who actively showed up on their own accord.
She also wants changes in the way contracts are presented to youngsters without lawyers - perhaps Congress will take notice!