The Gilbert Arenas-Mia Khalifa ‘Leaked’ DMs Were A Publicity Stunt For A New Talk Show

Turns out not every dragging you see online is pure of heart. In the case of Mia Khalifa and Gilbert Arenas, in fact, it looks like the brand new feud between the two was a grasp for publicity ahead of a talk show partnership.

If none of the above makes any sense, you are not among those thirsty for the latest news about former adult actress and noted internet sports fan Mia Khalifa. She’s a big fan of Washington sports and consistently puts herself in the internet spotlight, whether it’s outing athletes trying to meet her or taunting opponents of her sports teams.

Earlier this week, though, it looked like she was putting herself on blast when Arenas published a crude Instagram post that featured a series of DMs from Khalifa that went unanswered by the former Washington Wizard.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaCTcy0gt1R/?hl=en&taken-by=no.chill.gil

At first it looked like Khalifa would handle this just like she handled Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield rebuffing her advances. In that case, Khalifa dedicated a single tweet to his rebuff and moved on. Here’s what she Tweeted after Arenas “exposed” her DMs on Monday.

By Tuesday, though, she was leaning into discussion about the incident, retweeting comments and stories about it, including one from Complex itself. She asked on Twitter if “Gilbert Arenas is even relevant anymore, and Complex’s News department even made a video about it all that she retweeted as well.

But the site was in on it the whole time, as the Washington Post‘s Dan Steinberg reported on Tuesday with a story about a new talk show staring Khalifa and Arenas.

And, indeed, Complex soon sent out a press packet about the whole enterprise, which is a YouTube show called “Out of Bounds” where, apparently, little will actually be out of bounds.

“I am thankful to Complex for the opportunity and to Gilbert for being a part of it,” Khalifa said about her not-enemy. “I can’t wait to offend and upset a whole new fan base.”

So it turns out that was all a bit of kayfabe meant to get people talking about the pair. And I suppose it worked, because clicks are the only currency that matters in this modern world.

Only one question remains, I suppose: when will Deshaun Watson appear on the show?