CAIRO — The Egyptian actress Entisar Abdel Baset Ali Mohamad, known simply as “Entisar,” sparked controversy last month when she acknowledged that she watches adult movies and denounced preventing young people from watching them. On Oct. 6, during the nighttime talk show “Nafsana,” hosted by Entisar and the actresses Heidi Karam and Shaima Sayf, Entisar wondered what young men should do if they can't afford the cost of marriage, saying that until they can, some might find pornography useful.

Entisar justified people watching adult movies, stating, “These films, in addition to books, help explain sexual relationships to many men before marriage, which will prepare them for marriage.” Expressing her taste for pornographic movies with a dramatic twist, the actress, without naming names, criticized countries banning such movies, which includes Egypt, and claimed that they have high rates of homosexuality.

According to a report on the porn industry published Sept. 26 in The Economist, Egypt ranks 18th globally in the number of visitors to PornHub, one of the biggest porn sites, and leads all Arab and Islamic countries. Egypt registered 2% of total traffic, which was more than 18 billion total visits to the site in 2014, while the United States came in first, with 38%, followed by Britain with 14%.

A large number of social media users denounced Entisar's statements while others rejected those criticisms on the ground that watching porn is a real phenomenon spreading among Egyptian youth. The hashtag #Calm-Down-Entisar launched on Twitter, attracting thousands of supporting and opposing tweets about the actress' assertions.