An American porn star has made a lot of noise on social media after her recent trip to Iran, where she posted photos of herself covered from head-to-toe while visiting numerous landmarks in the country’s capital Tehran, including the former US Embassy.
Still reeling from the deadly crackdown on the Women, Life, Freedom protests, Iranians are struggling to understand how an American porn star was allowed to travel to Iran. https://t.co/t9w1le8mcY
— Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (@RFERL) February 5, 2024
Whitney Wright’s visit to Iran last week created a firestorm on Iranian social media, where angry Iranian netizens called out the Islamic Republic for hypocrisy for allowing the 32-year-old American porn actress and erotic model from Oklahoma with mixed Welsh and Native American heritage to visit the country while brutally cracking down on Iranian women at the same time, simply for not wearing their hijab correctly, if at all.
Iranian social media users have also accused Iran’s clerical establishment of inviting or facilitating her visit to Iran due to Wright’s strong support for Palestine and her anti-Israeli stance, a position also shared by the Iranian regime.
The porn actress also stoked a larger controversy when she posted pictures of herself wearing a full hijab while visiting Tehran’s landmarks, in compliance with the regime’s strict Islamic dress code, and asserting that Iran is safe "if you follow the rules" prompting many Iranian social media users to accuse her of promoting the Islamic Republic, which bans pornography.
American porn star Whitney Wright is in Iran, my birth country, where women are killed for simply showing their hair and being true to themselves.
Whitney has published several photos on herself completely covered up on Instagram. On her post she called me a warmonger and tells… pic.twitter.com/MwBBsVorBJ— Masih Alinejad (@AlinejadMasih) February 4, 2024
“American porn star Whitney Wright is in Iran, my birth country, where women are killed for simply showing their hair and being true to themselves.” Iranian-American journalist and author Masih Alinejad posted on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Whitney has published several photos on herself completely covered up on Instagram. On her post, she called me a warmonger and tells women: “‘If you respect the law, you will be safe in Iran,’” she also added.
Iranian actor Setareh Pesiani also took to Instagram to express his anger towards the regime, saying that “You punish people of this country in various methods for removal of the hijab, but you allow a porn actress to come here for tourism!?"
Critics have also argued that Wright’s claim not only ignores the fact that pornography is banned in Iran, with stiff penalties for those involved in the production, but that ordinary Iranian women also face humiliation and arrest for failing to follow the regime’s mandatory hijab laws.
It shows iranians piousness, u idoit..
Only people like u may know her..— Ijthad (@Ijthad1) February 5, 2024
Wright has since deleted her Instagram posts of the trip and arrived in neighboring Iraq on February 4th. But that didn’t stop the load of criticism from coming, and the porn actress defended her trip to Iran.
"Posting photos of my trip to Iran now means I'm pushing Iranian propaganda? I'm sharing exhibits from a museum that are rarely seen. It's not an endorsement of the government." Wright wrote on Instagram.
“Do you guys want me to apologize for…going to a museum?” Wright also wrote on Instagram before she criticized “some” of her critics for “shamelessly” supporting Israel.
An American cyber prostitute does something politically outrageous to boost her porn clicks and people are outraged? Par for the course.
— Gary Goldstein (@GaryGol88424403) February 5, 2024
Naser Kanaani, the spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, maintained on February 5th that he had no knowledge of Wright’s trip to the country.
“I don’t know about the matter you are referring to,” the spokesman said when a reporter asked him at his weekly press briefing about “an American national’s visit” to Iran. “American citizens are not prohibited from traveling to Iran,” Kanaani added.
The United States government advises American citizens against all travel to Iran due to “risk of terrorism, civil unrest, kidnapping, and the arbitrary arrest of U.S. citizens.” American citizens can only travel to the country as part of an organized tour or with a state-sponsored tour guide.
