Mia Khalifa has opened up on how her venture into OnlyFans is different from her former career in pornography and adult movies, as she pointed out one major contrast when comparing her experiences.
Khalifa, 31, is known by millions throughout the world after she went viral for one particular adult film she starred in, which attracted major controversy, given she had worn a hijab while performing sex acts.
It saw her become an overnight star of the pornographic industry; she has even remained one of the most searched names on PornHub to this day.
But despite having reached the top incredibly quickly, Khalifa only went on to star in a handful of other adult films before quitting porn for good.
Normality wasn’t an option for her, though, with her quickly realising she couldn’t return to her day job.
But instead of sticking with porn, she went down a different route: the social media and influencer game.
And it’s safe to say she’s been pretty successful, boasting more than 26 million followers on Instagram, 4.3 million on Facebook, and 6.2 million over on X.
Using her following, Khalifa has turned that into an incredibly successful career, earning millions through subscription platform OnlyFans.
For those living under a rock (or pretending they don’t know), OnlyFans is an internet content subscription service that has become primarily harnessed by creators selling adult content they have directly made.
Among them is Khalifa, who has reportedly earned up to $6.2m (£4.6m) a month on the platform.
Explaining how it differs to creating pornography and more typical adult content, she said OF allows her to be ‘true to myself and be comfortable with being on it’.
“I don’t do nudity past what I’ve done in a fashion magazine, which is like a see-through shirt or something. So I feel secure, and the audience that I’ve cultivated on that platform knows what they’re in for,” Khalifa told The New York Times.
In comparison, Khalifa said she felt ‘pressured’ in her brief spell in the adult industry, where she was performing for someone else.
Despite this, she still warned younger women against joining the subscription platform at such a young age, especially if ‘easy money’ is their only focus.
She said: “I have trouble with making sure that I’m not promoting it as a platform that is an answer to women who are looking for easy money.
“I have a responsibility to not promote it as something that any woman should join unless they’ve already been in the sex-work industry, unless they’re over 25, their frontal cortex is formed, unless they’re coming at it from a place that’s not — I don’t want to use the word ‘desperate’, but from a place of clarity and good intentions.”
Ultimately, Khalifa said that working on OnlyFans comes from a ‘place of agency and bodily autonomy… not from a place of need’.
“I get a lot of backlash from women in the industry,” Khalifa said when speaking out about the dangers of sex work. “I don’t care if another girl is getting mad at me because I’m stigmatising something. It is contradictory of me to be on something and tell other people, no, don’t join.
“But I’m not saying don’t join. I’m saying don’t join so young, don’t join as an answer to all of your problems. Just don’t do something you could regret. The internet is forever.”
