J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk Named in Bullying Lawsuit by Imane Khelif

J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk have been named in a cyberbullying complaint made by Imane Khelif, the genetic male who won a gold medal at the Olympics after beating a series of women. The Times has more.

The Algerian boxer confirmed through her lawyers that she had contacted France’s anti-online hatred centre at the Parisian public prosecutor’s office.

“JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Khelif’s French lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said. “[Donald] Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”

Khelif became a national hero in Algeria when she won the welterweight gold medal against Yang Liu of China on Friday. She had been disqualified from last year’s world championships by the Russian-dominated International Boxing Association, which ran Olympic boxing until 2019 and said tests had shown she had XY chromosomes. The boxer, 25, said the “media frenzy” that followed “harms human dignity”. After winning gold, she said that she was a “woman and I am very proud”.

Her legal action says most of the alleged cyberbullying was posted on Twitter/X, some of it allegedly amplified by the platform’s biggest users.

Rowling posted a picture from Khelif’s 46-second fight against the Italian boxer Angela Carini to her 14 million followers, accusing her of being a man who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head”.

Musk, who owns X, shared a post from the swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports”. Trump posted a message with a picture from the fight with Carini accompanied by the message: “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”

Boudi said that although the complaint mentions names, “what we’re asking is that the prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.”

Worth reading in full.

You can read different versions of the same story in the BBC, Sun, the Telegraph, the Guardian, andVariety.

Stop Press: According to the Mail, Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling could face five-year prison terms and fines of up to £214,000 if Khelif wins her case against them.