Instagram via Mia Khalifa Mia Khalifa
Mia Khalifa’s net worth is approximately $2 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. The five-foot-two, 120-pound actress and adult film star appeared in 21 adult films during her short career which lasted for three months in 2014. Since then, Khalifa has rarely been out of the news and taken on a new career as a social media star. She has amassed 15 million followers across her Twitter and Instagram pages.
In an interview with Megan Abbott and on her social media, Mia has commented on her earnings in the adult film industry. Mia says that she only made about $12,000 during her time as an adult film star, which accounts for very little of her total net worth.
“What’s more American than Texas BBQ being sexualized by a Lebanese immigrant?” Mia asked on Instagram.
Mia was born on February 10, 1993, in Beirut, Lebanon. In 2000, Mia moved to the United States with her parents. According to IMDb, when Mia was a teenager, they moved to Montgomery County, Maryland where she attended Northwest High School.
After high school, Mia reportedly graduated from the University of Texas at El Paso with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history. Shortly thereafter, she entered the adult film industry.
“i was just walking across the street . . . this guy [a porn producer] stops and he gets off his car and he gives me his card, and i thought about it for about two weeks then I made the mistake of saying yes and going in,” Mia is quoted on IMDb. “and . . . yeah, I did it for about three months, and as soon as I started to gain popularity, that’s when I was like, “OK I need to get the F out of here, this is not what I was trying to do whatsoever”, I just wanted to let loose and rebel.”
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Despite Her Short Career, Mia Remains One of the Most Searched for Actresses on PornHub
Mia joined the adult film industry in October 2014. She quickly made world news after she received death threats from ISIS for appearing in an adult film wearing a hijab. By December 2014, Mia was ranked #1 adult star on a major adult website.
Mia’s career in the adult film industry was very short. She sat down to talk about her life and past with Megan Abbott on Megan’s YouTube channel. The hour-long interview was posted on August 4, 2019, and has been viewed almost 400,000 times.
“Common misconception is that I’ve been making millions and millions from residuals for the work I did,” Mia wrote on Instagram. “Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, I made around $12,000 in TOTAL my entire time in the industry. It was near impossible for me to lead a normal life with a normal office job after. 2 years into trying to force normalcy I decided to change my narrative and move to Austin to try and start over.”
Mia told Playboy Magazine in a 2018 interview that she retired early due to the overwhelmingly negative attention she received. Mia told the magazine, “I don’t want any of this, whether it’s positive or negative – but all of it was negative. I didn’t get too much into it about how my friends and family and relationships were suffering.” It’s noted in the article that despite her retirement, Mia is ” consistently ranked as one of, if not the top name on the world’s biggest porn sites, including Pornhub and xHamster.”
Vice wrote in 2018 that Mia had been the most searched for porn star in PornHub in 2016 and 2017.
2. Since Retiring, Mia Has Launched a YouTube Channel & Hosts a Sports Show
“Wow wow wow!!!” Mia wrote on Instagram. “92k subscribers in just 2 weeks and almost 3 million combined views, we LOVE you guys, thank you!!!!!”
Mia and her fiance, Swedish chef Robert Sandberg, started a YouTube channel on August 7, 2018. Their channel quickly gained a large following. Mia and Robert have posted six videos over the past 10 months. The two currently boast 207,000 subscribers and more than 9 million combined views.
“Our mission for this platform is essentially a video diary for us to look back on, and for one day our future kids to fall into a YouTube rabbit hole of their parent’s archived adventures,” Mia and Robert wrote on their cannel. “We also want to share our relationship in it’s truest forms, the day-to-day, the adventures, the challenges, the EATING! the cooking, and everything in-between.”
In addition to that, Mia has co-hosted the sports radio show, “Sportsball.” As most of her fans know, Mia is a big sports girl. She was able to monetize that passion by promoting things like Bet My Bookie.
3. The Average Actress Compensation for a Scene Is Between &800 & $1,000
A CNBC feature on what porn stars are paid from 2016 detailed that the average compensation for an actress was between $800 and $1000 per scene. Although newcomers to the industry can sometimes be offered as little as $300 for a scene, while more seasoned performers can net up to $2,000. While male stars can get up to $1,500 for a scene, the standard is closer to $500 for male actors.
Actress Ariana Marie told the Daily Beast in 2019 that for her first scene she was paid $1,200 but that her agent took 40 percent commission. In 2017, male porn star Derek Hay told the Independent that female stars can earn up to $6,000 for scenes that involve anal sex.
4. Mia Regularly Uses Her Social Media Pages to Sell Various Products
Mia has embarked on a successful career as a social media personality. She can be seen promoting products like Puffy Mattress on her pages. Mia describes the products and offers discounts, usually in the form of promo codes.
In addition to promoting products, Mia also promotes her own endeavors. “Love seeing all the posts y’all are sending me of where you’re hanging me 2019!!” Mia wrote to promote her yearly calendar.
A 2018 Reddit thread titled, “How much money was Mia Khalifa making in her prime porn years (2015)?” was removed after one comment. Mia’s Reddit profile has also been deleted.
5. Mia Said That She Was Never in Porn for the Money
GettyA Lebanese protester raises a poster bearing an image of Mia Khalifa and reading “It is true that this woman does sex but she is more decent then them” during a mass rally.
During a February 2018 interview with Lance Armstrong, Mia stated unequivocally, “I wasn’t doing it for money.” Mia said of deciding to go into porn, “Looking back on it I don’t know what I was thinking… I was 21 and dumb.”
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