Mia Khalifa should be celebrating for being named the number one actress of an adult video sharing website. Instead, the 21-year old Lebanese-American star was technically disowned by her family and is now facing death threats.
Beirut-born Khalifa, who is now living in Florida, was the most-searched star on the adult site Pornhub in December 2014. Unfortunately, people in social media took this success negatively and criticized Mia for wearing a hijab--the traditional Muslim female headscarf--in her videos (MTV.com).
Moreover, Khalifa was also attacked online for the Arabic tattoo on her arm which translates into the first line of the national anthem of Lebanon. The same goes for the tattoo of the Lebanese armed forces which she has on her wrist.
Users in the social media platform Twitter were quick to express their distaste on Mia's actions. The outcry has even taken a turn for the worse and included death threats. Several people called her "disgusting" and "ugly" while another posted an edited photo of her being held hostage by the infamous ISIS murderer Jihadi John. Another user threatened to "cut her neck," the DailyMail reports.
Her family has also recently released a statement which condemns her actions. In a snippet of the statement posted by CNN, Mia's family said that they disassociate themselves from her actions which does not, in any way, reflect any of their family beliefs and Lebanese roots. The statement also added, "We hope that she comes back to her senses as her image does not honor her family or her homeland."
Despite the storm of criticisms, however, several people took the role of knight in shining armor and defended Mia. One of these is the electro-pop duo Timeflies who wrote a song dedicated to the adult actress. The song, which is named after Mia, was part of the pair's "Timeflies Tuesday project" where the band releases a new song every Tuesday.
Cal Shapiro (vocalist) and Rob Resnick (producer) said they came up with the song after seeing Khalifa's name trend in the internet. The track which includes lyrics like "Sometimes you gotta make a decision/Took her talents 'round the world/Now she ballin' like Lebron," has blown up ever since its release on January 6. Shapiro and Resnick also claimed that they have talked to Khalifa who expressed her excitement about the song.
Mia left her home country when she was 10 and enrolled at the University of Texas as a history major. She married in 2011 and has not contacted her family since.
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