Mia Khalifa’s decision to join OnlyFans has caused a backlash from those who have called her hypocritical after her vocal denouncing of the porn industry.
Just over a week ago, former porn-star Mia Khalifa announced she would be joining the OnlyFans platform, and boy people have kicked up a storm since.
OnlyFans is commonly associated with sex work, with subscribers paying a monthly subscription to view often-raunchy adult content. Mia Khalifa was the latest high profile celebrity to join the platform, just a few weeks after Bella Thorne caused some controversy by joining herself.
Khalifa’s decision has caused quite a stir, with the former number 1 searched pornstar on Pornhub being an avid critic of the porn industry and its exploitation of women.
Khalifa spent only three months in the porn industry back in 2014, creating 11 videos which she has since spent the last five years attempting to get taken down. Adult film company BangBros seemingly took advantage of Khalifa’s ethnicity making her wear a hijab, despite being a Christian, in a now-infamous video. Khalifa has since suffered five years of abuse, negativity, and death threats aimed at her because of her role in the industry, which she has been vocal in denouncing.
So, imagine the response of some when she announced she would be seemingly re-entering the world of sex-work, despite actively trying to separate herself from it.
Oof pic.twitter.com/McN9KURRwj
β KEEM πΏ (@KEEMSTAR) September 22, 2020
While OnlyFans is associated with sex work, it’s not strictly used for this purpose, with many content creators using it as a means of getting closer to fans, with one-on-one conversations or even giving tutorials on a variety of online software such as Photoshop.
Twitter users have called Khalifa’s move to OnlyFans, “hypocritical”, “ironic”,Β andΒ “stupid”. Yet, the thing is, it’s very clear none of these users have actually visited her profile, nor should they have to, as she has stated she would be sharing “SFW [suitable for work] content kind.”
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
β private captain sparrow (@HTarawnwh) September 19, 2020
Mia Khalifa: I feel like everyone sees under my clothes in the street
Also Mia Khalifa: *Makes an onlyfans*
β Greyson ππ Is listening to Denzel Curry (@6milliWaystoRap) September 25, 2020
She described her decision in making the profile, stating: “Even though I will not be creating nude content, I am going to be treating this page like my Instagram without terms of service.
“I want to take my power back and just post what I want and what makes me feel good,”Β she continued.
So she’s not engaging in literal sex work, but a more cheeky means of sharing risque pictures as opposed to using Instagram. Yet this won’t stop those on Twitter from calling her a hypocrite.
Furthermore, while Khalifa has criticised the porn industry, she is actively not against sex work, but simply an industry that manipulates and preys on young women as it did to herself. So whether Khalifa is posting NSFW content or not is really beside the point.
With her OnlyFans account, Khalifa is able to control what she posts β a key difference from her time in the porn, giving her full autonomy around how her body is shown. And she’s getting paid directly to do so.
The industry abused her and cohersed her into doing things she didnβt want to do. Only fans gives her 100% control over what she does, who with, her content. Thereβs a big difference, only the ignorant dont see it https://t.co/AvXciPZl5S
β Aaron (@aaronmg__) September 23, 2020
tw // abuse
mia khalifa said that the porn industry abused her. when she joins onlyfans, thatβs consensual and her choice. https://t.co/eXeJ6bvVkt
β ππππ¦π (@repurobyn) September 25, 2020
All power to her.