Imane Khelif ‘names Elon Musk and JK Rowling’ in cyberbullying lawsuit after winning Olympic boxing gold amid gender dispute

Algerian boxer Imane Khelif named Elon Musk and JK Rowling in a lawsuit filed to French authorities over alleged ‘acts of aggravated cyber harassment.’ 

Nabil Boudi, the Olympic gold medalist’s Paris-based attorney, told Variety that the Tesla mogul and Harry Potter author were both named in the criminal complaint posted to the anti-online hatred center of the public prosecutor’s office last week. 

The suit was filed against Musk’s social media network, X, which means it was filed against ‘unknown persons’ per French Law. 

Boudi explained that it ensures that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,’ including those who shared hateful messages under pseudonyms.

‘J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,’ Boudi wrote on X, noting that that Donald Trump would also be part of the investigation. 

‘Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution,’ he added. 

The news comes a few days after Khelif took home the gold medal in the women’s 66 kilogram boxing competition. 

She emerged victorious after enduring a widespread campaign of hatred over her gender eligibility. 

The 25-year-old, who is not a transgender woman and has never identified as such, allegedly has male ‘XY chromosomes’ which led to her disqualification from the 2023 world championships when she failed unspecified gender eligibility tests administered by the now-banned International Boxing Association.   

In the midst of her gold medal campaign, Khelif faced a torrent of social media abuse and harassment over her gender.  

In one post, Rowling shared a photo Khelif’s fight with Italy’s Angela Carini, accusing the Algerian of being a man who was ‘enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.’ 

Musk, for his part, re-shared swimmer Riley Gaines’ post that claimed ‘men don’t belong in women’s sports.’ 

‘Absolutely,’ he commented. 

Meanwhile, Trump simply wrote, ‘I will keep men out of women’s sports,’ alongside a snap of Khelif’s bout with Carini.