Whitney Wright Is Not Backing Down

Porn star Whitney Wright is continuing to advocate for civilians in Gaza following her rise to viral fame.

The 32-year-old, whose real name is Brittni Rayne Whittington, sparked uproar online on Monday after posting photos from a visit to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Wright shared snaps from a variety of tourist locations in the capital city of Tehran to Instagram and X, the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Social media users accused the Oklahoma native of promoting a "misogynistic murderous regime." However, Wright hit back at critics, urging them to pay attention to the Israel-Hamas conflict instead of her vacation.

"I'm extremely disappointed that the attention surrounding my visit [seems] to overshadow Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza," Wright told Newsweek on Wednesday. "These are things that should have our attention."

Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking another 240 captive, according to the Associated Press. Israel launched airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian militant group is based. Israel suspended supplies of food, medicine, energy and fuel into Gaza before commencing a ground offensive into the territory.

Over 27,000 people have been killed in Gaza as of February 8, the AP reports, citing the Gaza Health Ministry. Around 85 percent of the territory's 2.3 million population have been displaced by the conflict, living in makeshift camps, while roughly a quarter of Gazans are starving.

The Only Fans star has been raising awareness of the conditions Palestinians in Gaza have been enduring. On Wednesday, she shared a series of posts to her Instagram Stories criticizing Israel, Joe Biden and pro-Israel institutions.

In one post Wright asks her 1.3 million followers to "keep boycotting" McDonalds, along with a screenshot of an article explaining how Palestinian advocates are causing a drop in sales for the fast-food chain.

In another Story, Wright has screenshotted an X post from a user called "Holding Biden Accountable." The post includes an article about victims of the 2023 Hawaiian wildfires, with the headline reading "5,290 survivors remain in hotels."

"I guess you Biden won't help you get a new home unless you're taking it from a Palestinian," the X user wrote alongside the article, criticizing the president's Israel policy.

A third Story compares the Israel-Hamas conflict to the Ukraine War. Wright shared a screenshot of another X user called Anita Zsurzsan, who wrote: "When Putin invaded Ukraine, every major university in the West offered free scholarships to Ukrainians.

"Now, Israel destroyed every single university in Gaza and no Western university offered to take in Gazan students. The double standard is blood-boiling."

In a fourth post, Wright shared a video from media outlet Middle East Eye, in which a Gazan asks neighboring Egypt to share their water supply.

"Sisi is complicit in Israel's genocide of Palestinians," Wright captioned the clip.

Newsweek has reached out to Whitney Wright for comment via Instagram.

Why Was Whitney Wright's Iran Visit So Controversial?

The Iranian government has been condemned by international human rights organizations as well the United Nations.

Women, LGBTQ people and racial and cultural minorities are most at risk of "cruel and inhuman punishments," according to Amnesty International, such as violence, discrimination, torture, amputation and death.

A U.N. report in 2023 found that the human rights situation in Iran has "markedly deteriorated" amid declining socio-economic conditions, which have been worsened by sanctions and the lingering effects of COVID-19.

The production of pornography has been banned in the country since 2007 and is punishable by death.

Wright abided by Iran's "hijab law" during her visit, dressing in a headscarf and long clothing. However, her alleged comments to a person on X criticizing her visit caused controversy, with Wright reportedly telling the user "If You Respect the Law, You'll Be Safe in Iran."

Iranian-American journalist and women's rights activist Masih Alinejad, who was exiled from Iran and now lives in New York, called out Wright for the remark on X.

"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," she wrote. "Iranian women don't want to obey a discriminatory law."

A photo of Wright in front of the former U.S. embassy in Tehran caused particular outrage. Now an anti-American museum, the embassy was the site of the Iranian hostage crisis. Beginning in 1979, Iranian militants held 66 American nationals captive, with 52 of the hostages trapped for 444 days.