News - J.K. Rowling, Donald Trump, Elon Musk named in cyberbullying lawsuit filed by Algeria boxer Imane Khelif

Famous UK writer J.K. Rowling and the American billionaire Elon Musk have both been named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Algerian boxer and newly crowned Olympic champion Imane Khelif, reports Variety. Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney of Khelif, confirmed to Variety that both figures were mentioned in the body of the complaint, posted to the anti-online hatred center of the Paris Prosecutor’s Office on Friday. The lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means that it was filed against unknown persons. That “ensure[s] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” including those who may have written hateful messages under pseudonyms, said Boudi. “J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he said, adding that former US president and presidential candidate Donald Trump would 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.” Khelif—who on Saturday won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 66 kilogram boxing competition—spent much of the 2024 Olympics in Paris at the center of a noisy and unpleasant dispute about her gender eligibility that reverberated around the world.  Despite being born female and not identifying as transgender or intersex—and being backed by the International Olympic Committee, who asserted “scientifically, this is not a man fighting a woman”—Khelif faced a torrent of accusations and abuse over her gender.  In one message to her 14.2 million followers, Rowling posted a picture from Khelif’s fight with Italian boxer Angela Carini, accusing the former of being a man who was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.”  Musk, meanwhile, shared a post from swimmer Riley Gaines that claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” The X owner co-signed the message by writing: “Absolutely.”  And Trump posted a message with a picture from the fight with Carina accompanied by the message: “I will keep men out of women’s sports!”