Algerian Boxer Imane Khelif Sues Elon Musk, JK Rowling for Online Harassment
Aug. 14, 2024, 4:24 a.m.
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Algerian gold medallist Imane Khalif, who was at the centre of a gender dispute during the Paris Olympics 2024, has named JK Rowling and Elon Musk in her legal complaint over online harassment. Khelif won the top prize in the women’s welterweight category on Friday to become the first female boxer from Algeria to win a gold at the Games, but her journey to the top of the podium has been marked with constant scrutiny of her gender.
Advertisement Khelif took part in the Olympics despite being disqualified by the International Boxing Association (IBA) last year after a gender test. She was disqualified during the women’s World Championships in 2023 after failing a gender eligibility test. The IBA, however, has not furnished any details about the test so far, leading to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) clearing Khelif and Taiwan’s Lin Yu-ting for the Paris 2024.
It's worth noting that the IBA itself is currently suspended by the IOC due to allegations of financial mismanagement and corruption.
Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi has confirmed that her complaint was filed on Friday with a special unit in the Paris prosecutor’s office against online harassment which led to “aggravated cyber-harassment”
Boudi characterized the online harassment as a "misogynistic, racist, and sexist campaign" directed against Khalif.
What comments did Musk and Rowling make?
In a conversation with Variety, Boudi mentioned that Rowling and Musk are included in the legal action, and Donald Trump might also be part of the investigation.
“JK Rowling and Elon Musk are among those named in the lawsuit,” he stated.
“Trump posted on Twitter, so regardless of whether he is officially named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be examined as part of the prosecution.”
He further explained: “We are requesting that the prosecution investigates not just these individuals but anyone deemed necessary. If the case proceeds to court, they will face trial.”
Advertisement Famous author Rowling while writing a post on X (formerly Twitter), a social media platform owned by Musk, said that Khelif was a “male” who “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.”
Is there a more fitting image for the modern men's rights movement? A man, smug in his knowledge of the misogynistic sporting establishment protecting him, relishes the agony of a woman he just struck in the head, shattering her life's aspirations. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/Q5SbKiksXQ
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) August 1, 2024 Advertisement Musk did not make a direct comment but he shared a post of American swimmer Riley Gaines which said, “Men don’t belong in women’s sports.”
While sharing Gaines’ post, Musk wrote: “Absolutely.”
On his Truth Social platform, Trump declared: “I will ensure men stay out of women's sports.”
After clinching the gold medal last week, Khelif asserted that her triumph was the best response to her detractors.
“I am fully qualified to participate, I am a woman just like any other. I was born a woman, lived as a woman, and competed as a woman,” she stated.
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