Former porn actress and social media personality Mia Khalifa is warning young people about the realities of working in the adult entertainment industry, as she works “25/8” to have her old videos and images scrubbed from porn websites such as Pornhub and BangBros.
Khalifa, now 27, only appeared in a total of 11 pornographic films during a short three-month stint six years ago, yet remains one of the most searched names in porn.
Yesterday, in response to an Instagram Story post from another user who spoke on the young women pressured into the porn industry who are given no rights to the videos they star in, Khalifa wrote, “Those 11 videos will haunt me until I die, and I don’t want another girl to go through that – because no one should”.
Khalifa also posted a TikTok alluding to the toll her past career has taken on her mental health. “That hourly dissociative attack from remembering hundreds of millions of people’s only impression of you is solely based on the lowest, most toxic, most uncharacteristic three months of your life when you were 21,” the now-27-year-old stated.
Despite being one of the most well known names in porn, Khalifa was only paid a total of US$12,000 (AUD$17,456) while working in the adult entertainment industry, and “not a penny” since she left. Her videos continue to rack up millions of views and make significant money for the streaming sites that host them. In 2018, Mia ranked as the second-most searched name on Pornhub, despite not having left the industry four years prior.
Khalifa says she has unsuccessfully tried for years to get her videos removed from a number of streaming sites. One video depicts her wearing an Islamic headscarf, which she claims has resulted in her receiving death threats from ISIS.
The hashtag, #JusticeForMia has taken off on TikTok, prompting over a million signatures in under 24 hours for a petition of the same name which demands her domain names be returned and her videos be removed as per her wishes.
“Mia and her team have provided countless financial offers to the current owners of her domain name and pornographic videos to no avail. Big corporations are not giving Mia Khalifa a fair chance to demand her content in court due to financial advantage,” the petition states.
“We are demanding her domain names be returned, her videos be removed and fairly discussed in court without putting Mia Khalifa into deep financial ruin. Mia has stated her regret for her decisions in the porn industry multiple times.”
Khalifa has been outspoken for a long time about the lack of rights and pay for women in the porn industry. In a tweet last year, she debunked the misconception of her earnings and also spoke on the difficulties she faced returning to “normal” work after quitting porn.
“People think I’m racking in millions from porn. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that,” Khalifa said at the time.
People think I’m racking in millions from porn. Completely untrue. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that. Difficulty finding a normal job after quitting porn was… scary. Full interview here: https://t.co/xHK7SmhfrY pic.twitter.com/fwJlyzHznq
— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) August 12, 2019
After the petition received more than one million signatures, she posted an update saying she had “no words” to describe the support and she has received from those that contributed.
