Overview
Mia Khalifa Death Threats is the ongoing feud between conservative Muslims on Twitter and Lebanese-American adult film actress Mia Khalifa, who became a target of slut-shaming harassments and death threats for performing sex acts while wearing the hijab, a traditional covering worn by Muslim women, in early January 2015.
Background
On November 27th, 2014, an animated GIF of a scene from one of Khalifa’s adult films was submitted to the /r/NSFW_GIF[2] subreddit, where it gained over 2,100 votes (90% upvoted) in the first two months. On December 28th, Khalifa became the most popular adult film star on PornHub.[1]
On January 3rd, 2015, the Lebanese news site Lebanese Examiner[10] reported that Beirut-based newspapers had written articles criticizing Khalifa for wearing a hijab during sex scenes, leading Khalifa to tweet[4]“Doesn’t the Middle East have more important things to worry about?” (shown below). In one week, the tweet garnered more than 1,200 retweets and 1,000 favorites.
Notable Developments
Threatening Tweets
Also on January 3rd, Khalifa responded to a tweet informing her that she will “be the first person in hellfire” by joking that she wanted to “get a little tan recently” (shown below).[12]
On the following day, Khalifa responded to a tweet written by Twitter user @abdallahbakrr threatening that her “head will be cut soon” with “long as it’s not my tits” (shown below).[13]
On January 5th, Twitter user Hussein Annan[3] posted a photoshopped screenshot of an Islamic State decapitation video with Khalifa’s face superimposed over that of deceased journalist Steven Sotloff (shown below).
Timeflies Tribute Song
On January 6th, 2015, the electro-pop duo Timeflies released a song titled “Mia Khalifa” in support of Khalifa (shown below).
News Media Coverage
The news of the death threats against the actress, which coincided with the religiously-motivated terrorist attack carried out by armed Jihadists at the headquarters of French satirical news magazine Charlie Hebdo that same week, was instantly picked by dozens of English and French-language news media outlets and blogs, including The Daily What,[8]MTV,[5]CNN,[6] The Independent[7] and The Washington Post.[9] That same day, Newsweek[11] published an interview with Khalifa in which she discussed the backlash she faces in her home country and revealed that her family was no longer speaking to her.
Search Interest
External References
[1]Reddit – Why is Mia Khalifa suddenly so popular?
[2]Reddit – Hijab blowjob (WARNING: NSFW)
[3]Twitter – @UsainAnnan
[4]Twitter – @miakalifa
[5]MTV– Hijab-Wearing Porn Star Mia Khalifa Got Her Own Theme Song
[6]CNN– Songs and death threats for Lebanese American porn star
[7]The Independent – Pornhub star Mia Khalifa receives death threats after being ranked sites top adult actress
[8]That Daily What – Controversy of the Day
[9]Washington Post – The Miami porn star getting death threats from Lebanon
[10]Lebanese Examiner – Lebanese porn star Mia Khalifa sparks controversy in Lebanon
[11]Newsweek – Meet Mia Khalifa the Lebanese Porn Star Who Sparked a National Controversy
[12]Twitter – @miakhalifa
[13]Twitter – @miakhalifa