Mia Khalifa only worked for a year in the porn industry and made 11 videos. She gained a great deal of notoriety in that time, especially for wearing a hijab in one of those films. She say this was something she was pressured to do on set and regrets it—in fact, Khalifa has spoken out quite a lot about why young women (or anyone) should not participate in the porn industry. It’s not because she thinks sex work is wrong, it’s because other people end up owning your content and making money off it long after you want to see it gone.
Her fame has given her a larger platform, especially on TikTok, where she has built up a younger fanbase with more enlightened views on consent and owning your own image. On September 18th, she used one of the popular TikTok jokes that sex workers use to announce she had joined OnlyFans, saying she “has a full-time job…as an accountant.”
On her page, she writes it will be “Safe for work content, kinda,” and lists the fee to subscribe as $11.99 a month. According to Junkee, she has said there will not be any nudes or other explicit material.
“I am finally growing into my self-confidence in who I am and the decisions I make for me,” Khalifa wrote to followers. “Even though I will not be creating nude content… I want to take my power back and just post what I want and what makes me feel good.”
That sounds very different than having your hated porn films constantly posted and promoted by companies making money off of them, but for some people, that’s too much of a mental jump to make. A bunch of people jumped online to criticize Khalifa’s decision to join OnlyFans, which is traditionally a platform for sharing adult content. The big difference between OnlyFans and porn bought from companies is the performers in them set their own prices and get the money directly.
That’s the consent part. Which this dude doesn’t get:
Oof pic.twitter.com/McN9KURRwj
— KEEM 🍿 (@KEEMSTAR) September 22, 2020
Or this one:
https://twitter.com/6milliWaystoRap/status/1309522213683572736
Or this one:
The inherent irony of Mia Khalifa opening up an OnlyFans account considering she wanted all her porn removed off the internet a month ago is astounding
— potato baskins (@HTarawnwh) September 19, 2020
There’s a lot of anger from a certain type of bro towards all women, but women who make money through the very pornography they enjoy! That’s why they will click on the films Khalifa made in 2011 and got paid only $12,000 for, even as they keep raking in cash for the producers, but think there’s something gross about her having an OnlyFans completely under her own control.
Thankfully, there are some people who can see reason:
i imagine you could learn a lot about a person by whether they read these two images as being contradictory or nothttps://t.co/4rtT6vlbY5
— Shaun (@shaun_vids) September 25, 2020
I mean when you're doing it on your own terms, you're your own boss, you're older, you've grown to love your body, already have a following, I'd do it too lmfao this is a win not a loss.
— mama (@procheekclapper) September 22, 2020
The industry abused her and cohersed her into doing things she didn’t want to do. Only fans gives her 100% control over what she does, who with, her content. There’s a big difference, only the ignorant dont see it https://t.co/AvXciPZl5S
— Aaron (@aaronmg__) September 23, 2020
At this point, Khalifa can do whatever she wants with the platform she’s built through the exploitation. NSFW or almost SFW included.
More OnlyFans:
- “Videos Will Haunt Me Until I Die”—Mia Khalifa Regrets Doing Porn, Tells TikTok Teen It’s “Not Worth It”
- Sex Workers Say Bella Thorne “Ruined” OnlyFans For Them By Scamming Users
- TikTok Star Says She Makes 6 Figures Pretending To Be A Puppy On OnlyFans
- What Is OnlyFans And Why Is It So Popular Recently?