Songs and death threats for Lebanese American
porn star Mia Khalifa
(CNN)Few
parents are delighted to learn that their daughter is a porn star, even
a highly successful one. But for 21-year-old Mia Khalifa of Florida, a
family dispute has taken on international dimensions.
Khalifa
is PornHub's highest-ranked adult star. But she is also Lebanese-born
-- and her chosen line of work has not only disappointed her parents but
generated huge controversy in her native country.
The
debate has gained such a head of steam that some Arab news outlets
published a family statement this week condemning Khalifa's actions and
expressing the family's regret about her fame as a porn star.
She is also criticized for her tattoo, in Arabic, of the opening lines of the Lebanese National Anthem.
"We
are probably paying the price of living away from our homeland; our
kids had to adapt to societies that don't resemble our culture,
traditions and values," the family statement said.
"Hence,
we emphasize that we disassociate ourselves from her actions which do
not reflect her family beliefs, her upbringing or her true Lebanese
roots. We hope that she comes back to her senses as her image does not
honor her family or her homeland -- Lebanon."
According
to the statement, Khalifa, born in 1993, moved with her family to the
United States in 2000. They left behind them one of the more liberal
countries in the Middle East but one where religion plays a central,
sometimes divisive, role in daily life and many are deeply socially
conservative.
Having turned 18, Khalifa
left home, the statement says, "as is common in the West. She married
an American guy in February 2011 and is currently living with him in
Florida. Mia has since lost contact with her family."
Despite the family rift, Khalifa has been doing well for herself.
And she's been fighting back against the criticism on her Twitter feed, which has more than 100,000 followers (and contains some slightly NSFW content).
She
writes: "@borenstein_alex: @miakhalifa how do we achieve peace in the
Middle East?" Stop talking about pornstars that aren't living in your
country"
But many critics continue to voice their disgust on Twitter.
"I
am a Palestinian patriot and what you are doing is shameful," one
person wrote. Another says her head should be cut off for what she's
doing
.
.
And that's far from the only death threat she's received.
She posted a doctored photo that appeared to show her as a prisoner of ISIS.
At the same time, she has many online supporters.
British-Lebanese author and publisher Nasri Atallah posted at length in her defense on his Facebook page.
"The
moral indignation about Mia Khalifa, presumably the first Lebanese
pornstar, is wrong for two reasons. First and foremost, as a woman, she
is free to do as she pleases with her body," he wrote.
"Secondly,
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. There is this odd perception
that being Lebanese is a vocation and a duty first and that your
personal life comes second."
And like Khalifah, Atallah believes the fevered interest her actions have stirred back home is unwarranted.
"For
the record, I don't think we should be particularly proud of Mia
Khalifa, we should just be indifferent. She's doing a job she chose, in a
regulated industry, no different to banking. Actually, it's probably
more regulated than banking.
"I
certainly don't think she's our last frontier against ISIS as some have
suggested. She is a 21-year old in Florida who has made a decision for
herself, with absolutely no wider implications."
Another boost came from American duo Timeflies, who recorded a song about her this week, posted to their Twitter feed.
It's already proven pretty popular with her fans, with several posting that, together, she and the band "broke the internet."
And Khalifa herself remains defiant in the face of the trolls.
"How does it feel to be the most hated arab at the moment?" she wrote. "Pretty good since @Timeflies wrote a song about me."
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