Mia Khalifa

Mia Khalifa
ميا خليفة
Born (1993-02-10)February 10, 1993
(age 23)[1]
Beirut, Lebanon[2]
Nationality Lebanese American
Other names Mia Callista[1]
Years active 2014–present
Height 5 ft 2 in (1.57 m)[1]
Weight 121 lb (55 kg; 8.6 st)[1]
Religion Non-practising Catholic[3][4]
Website miakhalifa.com
No. of adult films 16 (per IAFD)[5][6]

Mia Khalifa (Arabic: ميا خليفة‎; born February 10, 1993), also known as Mia Callista, is a Lebanese American pornographic actress and adult model.[1]

Early life

Khalifa was born in Beirut, Lebanon and moved with her family to the United States in 2000.[7] She moved to Montgomery County, Maryland as a teenager.[2] A few years later she graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts degree in History.[8] She said her family is Catholic and she was raised in that religion, although she is no longer practicing.[3]

Khalifa married an American man in February 2011 shortly after she turned 18.[7]

Career

Khalifa entered the adult film industry in October 2014.[9] She had been working at a Whataburger when she was approached by a customer and asked if she ever wanted to be in pornography.[10][11]

On December 28 that year, Pornhub revealed that she was the #1 ranked porn star on their website,[12] replacing retired Lisa Ann. Her newfound notoriety quickly drew strong criticism from many in the Middle East, who branded her career choice as shameful and Khalifa herself a disgrace to her country.[13]

In one of her videos filmed by Bang Bros, Khalifa is seen wearing a hijab. Many took offense to the depiction, and she has received death threats as a result of the video. In an interview with the Washington Post, Khalifa said the controversial scene was satirical and should be taken as such, claiming that Hollywood movies depicted Muslims in much more negative lights than any pornographer could. Among those who publicly spoke out to defend her decision to become an adult performer was British-Lebanese author Nasri Atallah, who stated, "The moral indignation...is wrong for two reasons. First and foremost, as a woman, she is free to do as she pleases with her body. As a sentient human being with agency, who lives halfway across the world, she is in charge of her own life and owes absolutely nothing to the country where she happened to be born." Khalifa herself said of the controversy: "Women's rights in Lebanon are a long way from being taken seriously if a Lebanese-American porn star that no longer resides there can cause such an uproar. What I once boasted to people as being the most Westernized-nation in the Middle East, I now see as devastatingly archaic and oppressed."[13][14]

With more than 1.5 million views, the 22-year-old Khalifa became the most searched-for star on adult movie site Pornhub.[9] According to data from Pornhub, from January 3 to 6, 2015, searches for Mia Khalifa increased five-fold. Around a quarter of those searches came from Lebanon, with substantial searches also from nearby countries Syria and Jordan.[3]

Personal life

Khalifa currently resides in Miami, Florida.[2]

She has a tattoo of the opening line of the Lebanese National Anthem, and another of the Lebanese Forces Cross. She got the latter in 2012 after a bombing in Lebanon, stating it was to "show solidarity with my father's political views". Both tattoos have come under the scrutiny of her detractors.[13]

Khalifa has also said that her parents have stopped speaking to her because of her career choice.[13] In a statement, her parents disassociated themselves from her actions, saying that her decision to enter the porn industry was born of her residence in a foreign country which had a different culture than theirs, and that her actions did not reflect her upbringing. They also said that they hoped that she would leave pornography, saying that her image did not honor her family or her home country.[7]

Khalifa is a fan of Florida State Seminoles football. She attempted to recruit Ohio State quarterback Braxton Miller to transfer to Florida State through social networking.[15]

In popular culture

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Fay Strang (January 5, 2015). "Who is Mia Khalifa? Everything you need to know about Lebanese beauty who's PornHub's number one porn star". Daily Mirror. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 Chris Pleasance (January 6, 2015). "Lebanese-American porn actress receives death threats in her family's home country after she is voted sex industry's top star". Daily Mail. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 "Mia Khalifa, a Lebanon-born porn star, is getting 'scary' death threats". BBC. Retrieved January 8, 2015.
  4. ↑ Twitter, Official Twitter of Mia
  5. ↑ Mia Khalifa at the Internet Adult Film Database
  6. ↑ Mia Khalifa, Twitter
  7. 1 2 3 Laura Smith-Spark and Roba Alhenawi (January 7, 2015). "Songs and death threats for Lebanese American porn star Mia Khalifa". CNN. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  8. ↑ Taylor Wofford (January 6, 2015). "Meet Mia Khalifa, the Lebanese Porn Star Who Sparked a National Controversy". Newsweek. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  9. 1 2 "Why porn is exploding in the Middle East". Salon. Alternet. January 15, 2015. Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Mia Khalifa's parents furious over porn career". Ya Libnan. January 7, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
  11. ↑ Ogilve, Jessica (2015-07-24). "Inside Mia Khalifa’s Mysterious Rise To Porn Superstardom". Complex. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  12. ↑ Adam Taylor (January 6, 2015). "The Miami porn star getting death threats from Lebanon". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 4 Saul, Heather. "Mia Khalifa ranked site's top adult actress". The Independent. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  14. ↑ Nick Kotecki (January 7, 2015). "Lebanese American porn actress Mia Khalifa receives death threats". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  15. ↑ Jimmy Traina (January 15, 2015). "Porn star/FSU fan makes offer to Ohio State QB Braxton Miller". The Buzzer (Fox Sports). Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  16. ↑ Gil Kaufman (January 7, 2015). "Hijab-Wearing Porn Star Mia Khalifa Got Her Own Theme Song Courtesy Of Timeflies". MTV. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Mia Khalifa - Timeflies".
  18. ↑ Nick Kotecki (January 7, 2015). "Lenanese American porn actress Mia Khalifa receives death threats". Pittsburgh Sun-Times (The Sun-Times Media Group). Retrieved January 18, 2015.
  19. ↑ "University of NSW suffers embarrassing hack as Facebook page is hijacked and flooded with soft porn, guns and instructions how to French kiss". Daily Mail.

External links

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