Whataburger to Mia Khalifa, a popular porn star with Texas ties who wants franchise: No thank you

Photos from Mia Khalifa's Twitter. Photos from Mia Khalifa's Twitter. Photo: Twitter Photo: Twitter Image 1 of / 54 Caption Close Whataburger to Mia Khalifa, a popular porn star with Texas ties who wants franchise: No thank you 1 / 54 Back to Gallery

University of Texas at El Paso graduate Mia Khalifa, a Lebanese American, has skyrocketed to fame in the last few weeks, earning news stories in national media outlets like Newsweek, creating an international firestorm that drew death threats and rising to the top of her profession.

But it seems there is one thing the 21-year-old Khalifa — listed as the most popular porn star on Pornhub, which is the 71st most popular website in the world (in front of the websites for the New York Times and CNN) — wants that she can't have: her own Whataburger franchise.

According to the actress' Instagram and Twitter profile, which is totally NSFW, she is a "future Whataburger franchise owner."

A statement released to the San Antonio Express-News by Whataburger's Corporate Communications office Thursday regarding the actress' desire for ownership suggests otherwise.

“We are not adding any new franchisees in any of our existing or new markets,” a representative said in an email.

A request for comment submitted to Khalifa was not returned.

Khalifa was born in Beirut, Lebanon (with a different name) and her parents moved to Maryland when she was about 10 years old, Newsweek reported. She spent some time in Texas, graduating from the University of Texas at El Paso with a bachelor's degree in history.

Khalifa has become very controversial internationally because she has the opening lines of the Lebanese national anthem tattooed on her left arm, which has been seen by millions of people around the world. She has also been seen wearing a hijab in some of her on-camera roles, referencing her home country’s Islamic roots.

The actress told Newsweek her family is ashamed of her for working in the porn business, and has also received death threats from people opposed to her profession.

“No one in my family is speaking to me,” said Khalifa, who told Newsweek her parents are extremely strict and overbearing.

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Twitter: @tylerlwhite