Playboy has removed Mia Khalifa, a Lebanese-American media personality and former porn star, from its roster of OnlyFans-style creators after she shared comments “celebrating” Hamas’s deadly attack on Israel, the company said.
“We are writing today to inform you of our decision to end Playboy’s relationship with Mia Khalifa, including the removal of Mia’s Playboy channel on our creator platform,” the company wrote in a message to users (via Daily Mail). “In recent days, Mia has made disgusting and reprehensible comments celebrating Hamas’ attacks on Israel and the murder of innocent men, women and children. At Playboy, we encourage free speech and constructive political debate, but we have a zero tolerance policy for hate speech. We expect Mia to understand that her words and actions have consequences.
Among her posts on X (aka Twitter) following Hamas’ attacks on Israelis, Khalifa wrote: “If you can look at the situation in Palestine and not be on the side of the Palestinians, then you are on the wrong side of apartheid and history will show that in time. She also wrote: “I can’t believe the Zionist apartheid regime is being brought down by guerrillas in fake Gucci shirts – the biopics of these moments better reflect that. On Sunday, October 8, Khalifa wrote: “I just want to make sure there’s 4k footage of my people breaking down the walls of the open air prison they were forced out of their homes and into, so we have good options for the history books that write about how they liberated themselves from apartheid.
L.A.-based PLBY Group describes itself as “a global entertainment and leisure company that connects consumers with products, content and experiences”. Its flagship consumer brand, Playboy, will cease print publication in March 2020, and earlier this year it relaunched the magazine as a digital offshoot of its Centerfold platform, which allows individual creators to charge a monthly fee for access to exclusive content, similar to OnlyFans.
In 2011, Playboy founder Hugh Hefner took Playboy Enterprises private after 40 years as a publicly traded company. (Hefner died in 2017.) PLBY Group went public in February 2021 through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), and is currently led by CEO Ben Kohn.
In announcing Playboy’s partnership with Khalifa in February 2022, Kohn had said: “Mia’s fearless, direct, thought-provoking and fun-loving approach to life and her career makes her an important addition to our centerfold community. Freedom of expression is the cornerstone of our Playboy legacy, and Centerfold is all about empowering creators like Mia to express themselves in a safe, accepting environment.”
