While short lived, two of the biggest names in the adult industry of our generation are easily Lana Rhoades and Mia Khalifa.
And nowadays, they’re respectfully millionaires.
The pair both began making porn at young ages but didn’t stick around doing it for long.
Khalifa began in 2014 with her notorious first scene causing international controversy. She then ended up quitting just three months later.
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Rhoades started at 19 in 2016, also becoming one of the most searched-for names on PornHub. But she too ended up leaving the year after.
Closing the door on the adult industry, both have gone on to rake in the cash, having exposed their real earnings from working as performers.
How much did Lana Rhoades and Mia Khalifa earn for porn scenes?
During an appearance on Barstool’s BFFs podcast in 2022, Rhoades made it clear that porn hadn’t been such a well-paid gig.
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"In the industry, I did not get paid s**t. I probably had $100,000 (£74,000) when I quit shooting porn, now I’m a multi-millionaire," the 28-year-old revealed.
She also said during the Curious Mike YouTube show that she only got paid about $1,200 (£890) per sex scene.
And in an old X post, Khalifa said she only made a small amount during her porn career.
“People think I'm racking in millions from porn. Completely untrue. I made a TOTAL of around $12,000 in the industry and never saw a penny again after that. Difficulty finding a normal job after quitting porn was... scary,” she wrote.
Lana Rhoades and Mia Khalifa both became millionaires after quitting industry
Both stars have since taken to OnlyFans, using as a way to be able to control their own content and income. And have made a pretty penny in the meantime.
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As well as using the subscription-based platform, Rhoades launched her own successful podcast 3 Girls 1 Kitchen as well as dabbling in modelling and influencing with millions of followers.
While Rhoades hasn’t quite revealed how much of a millionaire she is, it’s thought her net worth is between $3 and 8 million.
For Khalifa, she’s also done a bit of modelling and influencer work since quitting the industry, with it said she earned as much as $6.2 million on OnlyFans in 2024.
In a piece for the New York Times, interviewer David Marchese said that the social media influencer's 'moneymaker' was OnlyFans, where she's 'extremely popular'.
He continued: “Someone once asked you, ‘do you make $10,000 a day?’ and I don't remember if you said yes, but I think you're like, ‘it's in the neighbourhood of that’.”
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What have they said about the dark side of the industry?
Both Rhoades and Khalifa have been open about their experience in the adult industry
Rhoades has claimed she was ‘taken advantage of’ during her career and during an episode of her podcast, she explained: “There were three to five that were really traumatic for me - whether it's being sent to a set with someone who was way too old, or being pressured into doing something that I was scared of doing because it was too extreme, that can definitely be very traumatic.
“I would say that's the 100 percent contributor to why I left the industry.”
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Khalifa has also said she was taken ‘advantage’ of, having said she was ‘exploited’ for the controversial hijab scene.
During an appearance on the Diary of a CEO podcast, she was asked if there was one specific moment in which she knew she wanted to get out of it.
“I think it was how overwhelming everything became so fast. It was a reality check, like when they turn the lights on in the club at 4 in the morning, the floors are sticky and nothing looks the same,” she said.
“This is not what I signed up for, it's not what I expected, I f****d up.”
How much are adult stars making on platforms like OnlyFans?
Bhad Babie really cashed in on her viral fame, taking on music, brand deals, TV and her OnlyFans account.
Real name, Danielle Bregoli, she previously took to Instagram to reveal the eye-watering amount she made through subscriptions, revealing through screenshots which appeared to show her earnings from 2021 that she made $18 million in her first month, following an amount of over $1 million on her first day.
However, the 22-year-old made a total of $6.8 million in May 2021, with each monthly income steadily declining. Still, it's a shed load of money either way.
This amounted to a staggering total of $38.6 million from April to November alone.
Sophie Rain is one of OnlyFan's biggest earners, making more than Hollywood actors.
Between November 2023 and November 2024, she earned a total of over $43 million.
Topics: Lana Rhoades, Mia Khalifa, OnlyFans, Celebrity, Adult Industry
Jess Battison