Who Is Mia Khalifa? Why PornHub's No. 1 Ranked Star Receives Death Threats

People who don't know porn star Mia Khalifa are about to get more familiar with her. The 21-year-old was just named the queen of PornHub -- one of the most popular adult sites -- but not everyone is happy about it. The brunette beauty, who was born in Lebanon, has begun to receive death threats from her native country.

While Lebanon is widely considered one of the most liberal Middle Eastern countries, many natives take issue with Khalifa’s porn career and the tattoos she has that represent Lebanon, Newsweek reported. One of them is the beginning lines to the country’s national anthem. It reads, “Koullouna lil-watan, lil’oula lil-‘alam,” which translates to, “All of us! For our Country, for our Flag and Glory!” It appears on her left arm. She has another on her left wrist, which is the Lebanese Forces Cross.

“They’re embarrassed I’m ‘claiming’ them -- as if I had a choice. I was born there,” she told Newsweek. “I was born and raised there, I’m entitled to an opinion on the politics just like everyone else,” she once said, according to The Lebanese Examiner.

Aside from the tattoos, some of the things that have upset people in Lebanon is that she wears a hijab in some of her videos. It’s an insult to some since the hijab is worn by Muslim women to show modesty -- an apparent slap in the face if it’s worn in an adult video, which is anything but modest.

But the adult star isn’t taking the criticism and death threats quietly. She hit back at the naysayers on Twitter, some of whom called her a “disgrace” and disgusting -- among other things. She wrote: “Doesn’t the Middle East have more important things to worry about besides me? How about finding a president? Or containing ISIS?”

While there are plenty of people who don’t want to watch Khalifa’s work, she’s also garnered a following of hundreds of thousands of people. On Twitter, she has nearly 85,000 followers and on Instagram she has nearly 94,000. She interacts with her fans and posts on social media almost daily.

While she’s received PornHub’s highest accolade and is probably one of Lebanon’s most hated celebrities, Khalifa simply describes herself on Twitter as “Unofficial mascot of the Florida State Seminoles and a pornstar in the off-season.” A similar description appears on Instagram, where she also added “Lebanese born and bred” and “dog mom of two.”

She also posted a Vine more than a week ago after she found out she was the highest-ranked adult star on Pornhub. “WE MADE IT,” she wrote, with the hashtag “honored.” The looped video shows her excitedly jumping up and down on her bed.

Khalifa moved to Maryland when she was 10. She received a B.A. from University of Texas at El Paso, where she enrolled as a history major. Before Khalifa, Lisa Ann was considered the queen of PornHub.

Follow me on Twitter @mariamzarella