Mia Khalifa Slams Comedian for Israel Comments

Mia Khalifa has lashed out at Iliza Shlesinger after the comedian shared a statement on social media condemning those who have spoken out in support of Hamas amid Israel's ongoing conflict in Gaza.

On October 7, Hamas led the deadliest Palestinian militant attack on Israel in history. Israel subsequently launched its heaviest-ever airstrikes on Gaza. Israeli officials have said that 1,200 people in Israel were killed in Hamas' attack, according to the Associated Press, while over 13,000 Palestinians have been killed, officials from the health ministry in Gaza said, the AP reported.

In addition to the lives taken in the initial attack, Hamas took over 200 hostages, including numerous children, with their ultimate release being one of the primary goals espoused by the Israeli government.

Last week, Israeli and Hamas forces engaged in a four-day ceasefire, during which it was agreed that 50 hostages would be released by Hamas in exchange for 150 Palestinian prisoners from Israel. The deal was, according to President Joe Biden, "reached by extensive U.S. diplomacy," though he also added that negotiations will continue until all hostages are freed.

The ongoing conflict has led to a fierce international discourse, with many calling for a ceasefire in Gaza to provide relief to the civilians engulfed by the fighting. It has also sparked deeply divided discussion on social media, where public figures who have called for a ceasefire, thrown their support behind Palestinians or Israel or maintained a public silence, have been roundly criticized.

In a post shared on Instagram on Monday, Shlesinger criticized people who had been targeting her with messages over speaking out against antisemitism and highlighting the plight of the hostages.

"This neo liberal wet dream that supporting Hamas or using the word 'genocide' when it comes to Israel from 1000s of miles away with no contest makes you look informed or ahead of some social curve is an actual nightmare for those of us who can't just set this down when the high of being a social media crusader wears off," she started her lengthy post.

Shlesinger later took aim at "the people who got dropped from their agencies for basically supporting violence against Jews, not just 'sympathy for Palestine' maybe now you understand the weight of your casual hatred.

"What? Living in a free country is only good when you wanna safely spout coded Jewish hatred but your agency's freedom to not support you back is where you feel you have been violated? Tell that to the innocent Jews being assaulted across the globe. What about their freedom? Guess it doesn't count?"

"Freedom works both ways," she concluded. "You are free to have an opinion and people are free to not support you. F*** around and find out."

The post caught the attention of former adult film star Khalifa, who last month lost business contracts after writing about she wrote about Palestinian "freedom fighters" in a post on X, formerly Twitter, hours after the October 7 Hamas attacks.

"I do not support all women—some of you b****** are VERY DUMB," Khalifa wrote on X, as a caption for a screenshot of Shlesinger's Instagram post.

Newsweek has contacted representatives of Shlesinger via email for comment.

Following a wave of criticism over her "freedom fighters" X post, Lebanese-born Khalifa, who has long been a vocal supporter of Palestinians, sought to clarify her comment in a follow-up statement on October 9.

"I just want to make it clear that this statement in no way shape or form is [inciting] spread of violence," she said in a since-deleted post. "I specifically said freedom fighters because that's what the Palestinian citizens are... fighting for freedom every day."

Playboy was one of two companies that quickly severed ties with Khalifa; visitors to her page on the brand's Centerfold platform are now met with a "not found" notification. Playboy announced the end of its relationship with Khalifa in an email to subscribers. It also shared with Newsweek a termination letter sent to her.

Khalifa's original message on October 7 also led to her public firing from her role as an adviser at Red Light Holland, which produces and distributes magic mushrooms.

Red Light Holland CEO Todd Shapiro wrote on X: "This is such a horrendous tweet @miakhalifa. Consider yourself fired effective immediately. Simply disgusting. Beyond disgusting. Please evolve and become a better human being."

A defiant Khalifa responded: "I'd say supporting Palestine has lost me business opportunities, but I'm more angry at myself for not checking whether or not I was entering into business with Zionists. My bad."

In a separate post, Khalifa said: "I just wanna make sure there's 4k footage of my people breaking down the walls of the open air prison they've been forced out of their homes and into so we have good options for the history books that write about how how they freed themselves from apartheid."

Radio host and wrestling pundit Peter Rosenberg criticized Khalifa's post in a direct message. Khalifa subsequently made their private exchange public on her X account, where she currently has more than 5.7 million followers.

"I stand with all oppressed people, everywhere, until no one is fighting for freedom," the screenshot showed Khalifa responding. "I'm from Lebanon, I've lived through more air [raids] by the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] than your tiny privileged brain could ever know how to work through.

"[You] know nothing but tall tales of a land that doesn't belong to you, created by a military that has nothing to do with your peaceful god loving religion. Don't you ever disrespect me and my experience with what geopolitical war is again you man child."

While Rosenberg didn't publicly respond to Khalifa posting their message exchange on the platform, he told Newsweek on October 9 that he found her approach to the matter to be "unhinged and ridiculous."

"The idea of demanding that people take sides hours after finding out that innocent people had been slaughtered was so counterproductive and hateful," he said, via email. "I don't care that she posted our direct message. I didn't consider her a friend. I was trying to avoid being messy on a day that's not about myself or Mia Khalifa."