Former adult star Mia Khalifa has lifted the lid on the real reason she took a step back from the industry.
Lebanese-American Khalifa was sky-rocketed to stardom back in 2014, shortly after joining the adult entertainment industry when she was just 21 years of age.
She was recruited by a man who suggested she try her hand at nude modelling, according to a 2019 BBC interview, but in the years that followed, she began starring in pornographic movies.
Khalifa, who was raised Catholic, participated in an infamous porn video where she wore a hijab - a headscarf that is sacred for female members of the Islamic community.
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Because of this, she received ton of backlash and even death threats from ISIS, however, by this point, she'd become the most searched-for performer on the adult entertainment sites like Pornhub, racking up millions of views per video.
In recent years, however, Khalifa, now 31, has made the leap from porn to media personality, and often features on huge-name podcasts and red carpets in her own right.
In an interview with the New York Times, the former porn star claimed that it was the one 'cosplaying' incident which prompted the decision to leave.
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When talking about what her 'brand' was prior to her change in career, she told the publication: "My brand at the beginning wasn’t something that was much in my control - I became infamous by accident."
Khalifa continued: "I entered the adult industry in October of 2014, and very quickly I was pressured to perform in a video where the context was that I was an Arab veiled woman.
"The intent was to exploit the fact that I was Arabic and spoke Arabic, and I went through with it. Not long after, I would say maybe a couple hours after it premiered, the avalanche started."
"Every news outlet picked it up, and everybody had an opinion. I was completely out of control of my image, my reputation.
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"I feel like a lot of people have slutty phases when they’re 20, 21. Unfortunately, mine was in 4K."
Khalifa - who was also working in a law office at the time - went on to claim that, during her day job, she was the subject of mass gossip and that had a huge impact on her wellbeing.
"That’s when I realised, this isn’t going to change; this isn’t going to get better," she told the publication.
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"I don’t like the women that I work with looking at me a certain way, and I especially don’t like the men looking at me in a certain way because it’s like a zoo animal."
Admitting that she began to feel 'uncomfortable' at her place of work, she claims this spurred her decision to become a full-time influencer.
"So I reopened social media," Khalifa continued. "And I decided to try to be an influencer and a public person if that was the fate that I had sealed for myself."
She added: "Where I am now mentally, emotionally, on every level, is a complete 180 from who I was."
Topics: Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, US News
Rhianna Benson