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Hindustan Times
Hindustan Times
Entertainment
HT Correspondent

Mia Khalifa says she’s ‘not proud’ of porn industry past, made just Rs 8.7 lakh as adult star, received death threats

Mia Khalifa talks about her past as an adult film star.

Former adult star Mia Khalifa has said that people may believe she earned a lot while working in the porn industry, but she made a mere $12,000 (app Rs 8.75 lakh). She said in an interview shared on YouTube that she isn’t proud of her past, and that she is still working on finding acceptance.

Mia spent just three months working in the porn industry before quitting in 2015 but she remains a highly ranked star on site Pornhub. “I made a total of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that,” Mia claimed in the video. She also said the industry “trap women legally into contracts when they’re vulnerable”.

Mia, who has never talked about her past, shared the video interview and tweeted, “Deliberately not talking about my past has hurt my future more than speaking my truth ever could. I’m ready to shed light on every questionable moment from my past, because if I own it, it can’t be used against me.”

Also read: Mika Singh banned by film body for performing in Pakistan: ‘When tension is at the peak, he puts money above nation’s pride’

The Lebanon-born performer revealed she made her first porn film in October 2014 and thought no one would find out, but in a few months, she was the number one ranked performer on Pornhub. “I definitely have not come to terms with my past yet. I might put on a facade, because I fake it until I make it. My friends from home started to find out because somebody found the first scene and they sent it to everybody. I was already about to film the one with the hijab that basically went viral and global. It was going to happen that week, so I was like, well, you know, I can’t back out. So, I guess, this next one, people are starting to find out. After that one came out the following week, it was beyond repair.”

Some of the films also showed her performing sex acts while wearing a hijab, which led to death threats.Talking about it, Mia said, “Instantly that it was posted, it was like wildfire. ISIS sent me death threats, they sent me a Google Maps image of my apartment. I stayed in a hotel for two weeks after that because fear really set in. They Photoshopped a picture of me on a beheaded body holding my head that was Photoshopped on there saying ‘You’ll be next’.”

Mia often receives offensive messages from trolls but says that it does not affect her anymore. “I don’t sweat the small stuff anymore, things people say don’t offend me. I always think ‘OK, but are you ISIS? Are you going to kill me? No, move on’.”

Eventually, the attention had an adverse effect. “The shame started to set in a little bit,” she said, pointing to “a fear of things starting to change and people starting to think things of me.”

“Acceptance and pride in my past. Neither of those things have come to me yet. I am still working on the acceptance, but I am definitely not proud of it. I immediately wanted to make them feel small as they did to me. I could have handled it in a better manner,” she said.

Follow @htshowbiz for more

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