Former adult film actress Mia Khalifa said that despite being one of the most popular porn stars on the internet, she has earned only $12,000 during her career.
“People think I’m racking (sic) in millions from porn. Completely untrue. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that,” Khalifa tweeted on Monday, sharing a recent interview with life coach Megan Abbott.
Khalifa, who spent only a few months as an adult actress, went viral in 2014 after filming a scene wearing a hijab. Her choice of headwear, she said, led to death threats from ISIS.
People think I’m racking in millions from porn. Completely untrue. 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. Full interview here: https://t.co/xHK7SmhfrY pic.twitter.com/fwJlyzHznq
— Mia K. (@miakhalifa) August 12, 2019
“When I did the hijab scene that is when the ISIS death threats came in. All the news broke out—globally, not just in America. … I was banned from a handful of countries,” she toldAbbott.
“What I actually said when they proposed the scene to me, and this is verbatim, was ‘You motherf*ckers are going to get me killed,” Khalifa recalled telling producers.
Despite her short-lived career in the adult film industry – she left the business in 2015 after only three months – Khalifa continues to be one of the most popular porn actresses, with over 16 million Instagram followers and 2.7 million Twitter followers.
In 2016, the year after she retired, she was ranked the most searched adult actress by xHamster.
Khalifa said she kept up her social media profile as a source of income but was looking to obtain a more traditional job. In her interview with Abbot she revealed that she worked as a paralegal and bookkeeper, and has since attempted to rebrand herself as a sports commentator.
