JK Rowling and Elon Musk named in lawsuit filed by Imane Khelif

Olympic gold medal winning boxer Imane Khelif has named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in a legal complaint over “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” following a row about her gender eligibility.

Speaking exclusively to Variety, Paris-based attorney Nabil Boudi, who is representing Khelif, confirmed that both high-profile figures had been named in the complaint, which has been posted to the anti-online hatred centre of the Paris public prosecutor’s office.

Algerian boxer Khelif won the gold in the women’s 66kg boxing event on Friday (August 10) after beating China’s Yang Liu, a victory which came after a vitriolic storm about her gender and eligibility to compete in the female category.

Despite complying with the International Olympic Committee’s eligibility criteria – who said her inclusion is “not a transgender issue” as she was born female and competes as a woman – Imane Khelif came under scrutiny alongside Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting because they were previously disqualified from the World Championships after failing to meet eligibility criteria.

The IOC has since questioned the validity of the gender tests carried out by the International Boxing Association (IBA) at the time. The Russia-led IBA has been suspended by the IOC since 2019 because of concerns over its finances, governance, ethics, refereeing and judging.

The torrent of abuse Khelif faced online saw people allege that she is a “man” and a “cheater” who is taking up space in women’s events, including figures like Rowling and Musk as well as others, including Donald Trump, Riley Gaines and Logan Paul.

“Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” Rowling wrote on X/Twitter alongside a photograph of Imane after she defeated Italy’s Angela Carini. “The smirk of a male who’s knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”

On the platform that he owns, Musk shared a post from Gaines in which she claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports” and reposted the message by writing: “Absolutely.”

The legal complaint has been filed against X, which in French law means it was filed against unknown persons.

The reason for this is to ensure “ensure that the prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people”, Boudi told Variety, noting it included people who have written offensive and hateful messages under pseudonyms. However, the lawsuit does also mention the controversial figures by name.

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

Boudi added whilst the Imane Khelif lawsuit was filed in France “it could target personalities overseas,” as the “the prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries.”

He added there are agreements with the United States’ equivalent of the French office for combating online hate speech.

He also told the publication that the legal action will focus on the authors of the posts, rather than the platforms in which they are hosted, saying it is “the responsibility of lawmakers to issue sanctions to platforms, not ours”.

PinkNews has reached out to representatives of JK Rowling and Elon Musk for comment.