Twitter erupted on Monday when ex-porn star Mia Khalifa claimed to have just made "a total of around $12,000" in the adult entertainment industry.
The Lebanon native, who now lives in the United States, worked in the adult film business for three months, but despite her "brief" stint, she's still one of its biggest names after gaining infamy for taking part in a sex scene while wearing a hijab, reports news.com.au.
As a result of the controversial footage, the now 26-year-old received death threats from Islamic State and subsequently left the industry.
Years after quitting, Khalifa continues to be ranked No. 2 on Pornhub for most searched stars in 2018, according to VICE.
"People think I'm racking in millions from porn," Khalifa, 26, said a tweet.
"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."
Her comments copped major flak online with some Twitter users saying the money she has made since doing porn was a direct result from her X-rated former career.
The only reason you got any of your jobs after porn was BECAUSE you did porn. No one would know who you are if it wasn’t for you having sex on camera. Why don’t you change your name back to your legal name and see who even recognizes you?
— PornSlap.com (@pornslap) August 12, 2019
"Literally no one knew who you were before you did porn, and absolutely no one would know who you are today if you never did porn. You're simply delusional if you don't realise that," one person said.
"Would you have 2.8 Million followers without the Industry though?" asked another.
"She still uses her stage name meaning she still profits off of her time in the industry even if she's not doing porn," a third commented.
Khalifa, who in 2018 worked as a sports presenter on YouTube channel Complex News, hit back saying she's "not lamenting" on what she did earn. "But you clearly have deeper issues with me past this, so good luck with your bitter life," she added.
The social media star, who tweets as Mia K. and has 2.7 million Twitter followers, went on to explain she was "never promised millions" of dollars nor did she "expect" it.
"I'm just clarifying common misconceptions about me, and in turn, about the industry," Khalifa said, while adding she was involved in porn "so briefly".
"But my actions spread like wildfire and I continue to be ranked (truly baffles me) 5 years after leaving the industry.
"This is why people think I still perform."
FROM PORNSTAR TO SPORTS PRESENTER
The tweets got Khalifa to trend on Twitter on Monday night and were accompanied by a YouTube video, featuring an interview she gave earlier this month where she "tells her story for the first time".
"In 2014, Mia Khalifa made world news when she received death threats from ISIS after appearing in an adult film wearing a hijab," a description reads. "For the first time ever, Mia sits down with Megan Abbott to tell her story."
In the interview, Khalifa described her transition out of porn — calling it "terrifying".
"I didn't know what I was going to do," she said.
Her infamous hijab scene — which was still garnering Islamic State threats as of August 2018 — is what ultimately made Khalifa leave the business.
$12,000?? yeah right
— Leo the Legend (@LeoTorresDiaz) August 12, 2019
"The turning point, of course, was when I did the hijab scene," she said. "That is when the ISIS death threats came in, all of the news broke out, globally. Not just in America.
"It was trending on Twitter, it was all over the news. I was banned from a handful of countries … Egypt … Afghanistan …"
Khalifa explained many Muslim countries were deeply offended by it — "and I'm Catholic". "What I actually said when they proposed the scene to me, and this is verbatim, was: 'You motherf***ers are going to get me killed.'"
HER INSTAGRAM FOLLOWING JUMPED
Describing her quick-found fame, Khalifa said the day after the scene dropped is when everything blew up.
She went from having just 400 followers on Instagram to 200,000 in just three days.
"Then it just kept snowballing until I was at two million like six months later," she said.
"This was after I had quit porn. It just kept growing, and growing, and growing — and then my Instagram account was hacked by ISIS."
Khalifa went on to become a presenter on Out of Bounds, a daily sports show on Complex News' YouTube channel, after leaving the porn industry and she hopes to continue working in that field.
"I definitely want to grow my career," she said.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Mia K. (@miakhalifa) on
KHALIFA TO GET MARRIED
In May, Khalifa also got engaged to her heavily tattooed Swedish chef boyfriend Robert Sandberg.
In an Instagram post, he said: "We went to Chicago this weekend and had a wonderful dinner at Smyth. I proposed to @miakhalifa and she said YES!
"The ring was hidden in a bowl of dried ingredients and came out as a 'new serving'. Mia was too curious and to eager to taste so she started to eat the inedible ingredients.
"I told her not do it and then I put the ring on the finger. I love you so much :heart:"
The Lebanese-born pornstar turned sports presenter, seemed excited after she took to her own Instagram saying she didn't see it coming.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Robert Sandberg (@robertsandberg) on
"Thank you a million times over for the entire team at @smythchicago for helping @robertsandberg propose. This trip and dinner was supposed to celebrate him getting his visa!
"Robert has planted the seed so deep in my mind for so long that he hates restaurant proposals so I never, EVER, saw this coming. I love y'all so much! Thank you!"
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