Social media giant Elon Musk and Harry Potter author JK Rowling have been sued by boxer Imane Khelif for online harassment.
According to the Times , Musk and Rowling are two of the names in Imane Khelif’s lawsuit. The Algerian boxer authorized his lawyers to work with the French Center for Combating Online Hate, part of the Paris prosecutor’s office.
Khelif’s French lawyer, Nabil Boudi, said US presidential candidate Donald Trump could also be sued for reposting Khelif’s criticism on X. “Whether he is on the list or not, it will certainly be considered as part of the prosecution process,” Boudi told the Times .
Imane Khelif won the women’s 66kg boxing gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Photo: AP
Khelif won the gold medal in the women’s 66kg boxing category at the 2024 Paris Olympics. However, she and Lin Yu-Ting (Taiwan) – the gold medalist in the women’s 57kg category – became the focus of gender-related criticism. After winning the championship, Khelif affirmed that she would take legal action against online bullying, including many celebrities.
JK Rowing posted a photo of Italian boxer Angela Carini retiring after 46 seconds against Khelif in the round of 16 on his X account, which has 14 million followers. The Harry Potter author accused Khelif of being a “man” and “enjoying the pain of punching a woman in the head”.
Meanwhile, Elon Musk – owner of Tesla and X – expressed his agreement, retweeting a post by swimmer Riley Gaines declaring that “there is no place for men in women’s sports”. Mr Trump posted a picture of Carini with the message “I will not let men compete in women’s sports”.
Khelif’s side has asked prosecutors to investigate not only the above people, but anyone they deem necessary. In addition, the complaint was filed in France but could target individuals abroad.
JK Rowling, Elon Musk, Trump and X have not responded to this legal action.
X boss Elon Musk (left) and Harry Potter author JK Rowling. Photo: AP
The controversy stems from the decision by the International Boxing Association (IBA) to disqualify Khelif before the final and strip Lin of his bronze medal at the 2023 World Boxing Championships. The IBA accused the two boxers of failing gender testing. Meanwhile, IBA President Umar Kremlev said the male chromosome XY was detected, in an unofficial statement on Telegram .
However, the IBA was stripped of its membership by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2023 due to poor management and corruption. The ban was also due to the fact that the IBA, headed by Russian President Umar Kremlev, did not comply with the rules banning Russian athletes from boxing competitions. Therefore, the IOC decided to create a separate unit to organize boxing at the 2024 Olympics, based on the eligibility rules from previous editions, and allowed Khelif and Lin to compete in Paris .
On July 31, the IBA issued a press release stating that through a separate testing process, the two boxers were found to be ineligible to compete. However, they insisted that it was not a testosterone test. On August 5, the IBA held an official press conference but also failed to provide specific evidence and details of the tests.
IOC spokesman Mark Adams called the IBA tests a violation of the rules and a flaw. Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach asserted: “The two boxers were born women, raised as women, have women’s passports and have competed for many years as women. There is no doubt that they are women.”
Before the 2024 Olympics, Lin was the 2019 and 2022 world champion, the 2017 and 2019 Asian champion, and won the 19th ASIAD gold medal. Meanwhile, Khelif was the 2022 world runner-up, the 2022 African champion, and won the 2023 Arab Games gold medal. However, according to Boxrec , Lin lost 14 matches, while Khelif also suffered 9 defeats.
