Olympic boxer Imane Khelif has filed a lawsuit with French authorities regarding alleged cyberbullying that occurred during the 2024 Paris Olympics, naming both author J.K. Rowling and X owner Elon Musk.
Khelif, who won a gold medal in the women’s 66-kilogram boxing competition, became well-known in recent weeks after some raised issues with her competing despite being banned from the 2023 Women’s World Boxing Championships due to a failed gender eligibility test, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Now, Khelif has filed a lawsuit alleging “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” by those online with large platforms, who purportedly prompted many other accounts to follow suit and make similar posts, according to Variety.
Nabil Boudi, Khelif’s attorney, has spoken out about the lawsuit and confirmed that both Rowling and Musk were named due to comments they made online.
“J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he explained, noting that former President Donald Trump could be investigated as well, per Variety.
“Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution,” Boudi said.
Rowling, who has more than 14 million followers on X, posted a picture from one of Khelif’s fights and alleged that the boxer was a male who chose to fight against women during the Olympics.
“The smirk of a male who’s [sic] 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,” wrote the author in the post.
Similarly, Musk has over 194 million followers on the platform. He shared a post from swimmer Riley Gaines that said, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports,” per the BBC.
Boudi said that specific names were included to highlight the posts and claims being made about Khelif.
“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,” he said, per Variety.
Boudi also explained that the lawsuit does not specifically name anyone as a defendant in the case, which will allow investigators “all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people.”
The Paris Prosecutor’s Office confirmed that it received the lawsuit and was instructed by the Central Office for the Fight Against Crimes Against Humanity and Hate Crimes to “conduct an investigation into the counts of cyber harassment due to gender, public insult because of gender, public incitement to discrimination and public insult because of origin,” per Variety.
