Lance Armstrong is no stranger to controversy and questionable decision-making, as the seven time Tour de France champ was stripped of his medals and banned from cycling after a publicized revelation that he had used steroids before competitions. While not exactly in the same ballpark, ex-porn star Mia Khalifa has her own regrets about some avenues she'd once explored.
Opening up to Armstrong in a new interview on his podcast, Khalifa sits down with the disgraced-cyclist to speak about her short stint in adult entertainment, which saw her gain an unprecedented amount of notoriety in a short timeframe. Khalifa, who sometimes performed in scenes wearing a hijab, became a sought-after performer, but all of that ended quite abruptly once she reevaluated her position as a famous porn star.
Reminiscing on her decision to enter into adult entertainment, Khalifa admits that she didn't know what she was thinking, adding how she was "21 and dumb. As soon as I started to gain popularity that’s when I was like ‘get the f--- out of this’ ... this was not what I was trying to do whatsoever. I just wanted to let loose and rebel a little bit. It didn’t validate me. Nothing like that ever does. That’s not what you should be doing to try and build your self esteem."
Khalifa was further inspired to hang up her gig as a porn star once ISIS got wind of her work. Hailing from Lebanon, residents of her hometown were particularly critical of her choice of work, especially after donning a sacred Muslim garb during her performances. Khalifa admits how "It all started to spiral out of control when the death threats from ISIS started coming in. That's when I stepped away."
She has since relocated to Austin, and is trying to start anew in a different industry. "The reason I moved here is because I gave up on just trying to lead a normal life. Now I’m going to try to rebrand and change the narrative,” she admits. “Accept that I’m Mia Khalifa now and try to be successful at that, doing something else."