Former top porn actress, Mia Khalifa, has called out pornography companies that “prey on callow young women”, claiming she only made $12,000 despite being one of the most recognisable faces in the industry
The 26-year-old West Ham fan says the corporations “trap women legally into contracts when they’re vulnerable”.
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Mia spent just three months working in the porn industry before leaving in 2015 but she remains a highly ranked star on Pornhub.
Speaking in an interview with her friend Megan Abbott, Mia says she “hasn’t yet accepted [her] past”.
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Mia has usually avoided speaking about her career in porn, but says she’s “ready to shed light on every questionable moment from my past because if I own it, it can’t be used against me”.
She is one of the most-viewed porn stars of all time – but Mia says that didn’t necessarily equate to payment.
She says she made around $12,000 (N4.4m) during her time performing and “never saw a penny again after that”.
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There is still an active website under her name, which she says she doesn’t own or profit from.
“All I’ve wanted these last years is for the site to be changed from my direct name,” she says.
The Lebanon-born performer opened up about how difficult it is to move on after porn, as she found out when attempting to pursue a career in sports punditry.
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“It gets me so down when I get ‘no’s’ from companies who don’t want to work with me because of my past, but I also thought I would never find a man like my fiancé,” she said.
Mia Khalifa got engaged to Robert Sandberg earlier this year.
“The fact that he appreciated everything I’ve done since porn meant so much.”
Although Mia’s career was short-lived, it wasn’t without controversy. Her most famous scene shows her performing sex acts whilst wearing a hijab.
“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.”
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With almost 17 million followers on her Instagram page, Mia often receives offensive messages from trolls.
“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’.”
The actress was scouted on the street in Miami in 2014 and made her first porn film in October that year.
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She didn’t plan for anyone to find out, telling Megan Abbott she saw it as her “dirty little secret”.
But by December she was the number one ranked performer on website Pornhub.
“I definitely have not come to terms with my past yet,” she says. “I might put on a facade because I fake it until I make it.”
