Mamma ‘Mia!’ Lebanon porn star shocks Mideast

Mia Khalifa, a porn star “born and bred in Lebanon,” has made international headlines this week when she was condemned and threatened online after being announced the Queen of PornHub - the world's most popular porn website.

The criticism from Arab web-users led outlets such as the Huffington Post and The Mirror to cover the story, particularly after Mia began receiving death threats.

Since then, the 21-year-old “queen,” who moved to the U.S. as a teenager, continues to provoke online outrage in her home country and across the Arab region. Mia has over 100,000 followers on Instagram and Twitter and regularly strips off on social media.

"I am a Palestinian patriot and what you are doing is shameful," one person wrote, while others posted death threats.

In response to the trolls, Mia tweeted:

“Doesn’t the Middle East have more important things to worry about besides me?… How about finding a president? Or containing ISIS?"

mia

Read also: Porn sites appear in Islamic countries most-visited online rankings

However, some offered a different perspective.

British-Lebanese author Nasri Atallah wrote in a Facebook post: "The moral indignation... is wrong for two reasons. First and foremost, as a woman, she is free to do as she pleases with her body.

"Secondly, as a sentient human being with agency, who lives halfway across the world, she is in charge of her own life and owes absolutely nothing to the country where she happened to be born.

"For the record, I don’t think we should be particularly proud of Mia Khalifa, we should just be indifferent. She’s doing a job she chose, in a regulated industry, no different to banking.

With her new ranking as PornHub’s number one, the 5’2” adult star has beaten industry veterans, according to IB Times.

According to the Lebanese Examiner, “natives [are] upset and offended by her work, especially because she often boasts her Lebanese heritage on Twitter and Instagram, posting photographs of her Arabic tattoo that reads ‘Koullouna lil-watan, lil’oula lil-‘alam.’ [the opening line of the Lebanese national anthem.]

“She also has another tattoo of the infamous Lebanese Forces cross on her wrist. When questioned about it, she replied: “I was born and raised there, I’m entitled to an opinion on the politics just like everyone else.”