Mia Khalifa is many things; former porn star, sports pundit, outspoken socio-political commentator, and a woman with a price on her head for exercising her human rights to be all those things at once.
Yet, Khalifa gave a candid interview on BBC Radio 5 Live saying the threats of beheading from ISIS and religious extremists in her home country of Lebanon aren’t the only thing she has to worry about.
She detailed the devastating fallout of her short-lived career in porn, and outlined her every day experience with the subsequent harassment, which ranges from ‘rude to terrifying’.
Speaking in consideration of the #MeToo movement, she said:
I guess I do get harassed in person which is why I don’t really go out. I’ve grown a very thick skin so I feel uncomfortable speaking on the #MeToo movement because I don’t feel like I’m a part of it.
Other people do and other people say that for me and I guess it’s subjective, I just try to laugh things off because it could always be much, much worse.
When asked whether she is always looking over her shoulder, she continued:
More or less yes, especially since people would come up to me and not everybody was polite and asked kindly for a photo.
My demographic is predominantly male, ages 18-24. You combine that with me going out with my friends to a bar. People are drinking.
Interactions with people… I would say 60 percent range from rude to terrifying so I’m always looking over my shoulder. Not just for ISIS, just for everybody that comes up to me.
Mia has previously spoken out about her time in the adult entertainment industry while appearing on disgraced road racing cyclist Lance Armstrong’s podcast The Forward.
She revealed how the death threats she received from terrorism group ISIS led her to leave behind her porn work in favour of a more conventional career.
Terrifyingly, ISIS even threatened to behead Mia unless she stopped working in the adult film sector.
Speaking with 46-year-old Lance in Austin, Texas, Mia confessed:
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 f*** out of this’.
This was not what I was trying to do whatsoever. I just wanted to let loose and rebel a little bit.
You can watch a clip below:
Mia appeared to express regret over her former career choice, describing her time in the industry – a mere three months at the age of 21 – as a ‘huge mistake’.
Mia shared her thoughts on adult entertainment, saying:
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.
Certainly a career in porn isn’t for everyone.
UNILAD spent a few days in Budapest with British adult entertainer and entrepreneur, Harriet Sugarcookie, to find out what it’s really like to embody an international porn brand.
Here’s what we found out:
Meanwhile – and it’s hard to believe this still needs to be put into black and white – just because a woman works in the sex industry does not mean she wants to have sex with any Tom, Dick or Harry she meets on the street.
No woman, regardless of her career path, should be subjected to this kind of harassment.
If you have a story to tell, contact UNILAD via stories@unilad.co.uk.
A former emo kid who talks too much about 8Chan meme culture, the Kardashian Klan, and how her smartphone is probably killing her. Francesca is a Cardiff University Journalism Masters grad who has done words for BBC, ELLE, The Debrief, DAZED, an art magazine you’ve never heard of and a feminist zine which never went to print.