Algerian gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif named billionaire Elon Musk and author J.K. Rowling in a legal complaint filed in France over online harassment she faced during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” attorney Nabil Boudi, who is representing Khelif, told Variety on Tuesday (August 13).
The lawsuit accuses Musk and Rowling of committing “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Khelif, inciting false claims that the boxer was transgender, during her quest for a gold medal. The Paris Prosecutor’s Office (National Center for the Fight Against Online Hatred), confirmed it received the complaint and has launched an investigation into the allegations.
“On Aug. 13, (The National Center for the Fight Against Online Hatred) contacted the OCLCH (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,” the Paris Prosecutor’s Office said.
The lawsuit was filed against X, a website owned by Musk, which under French law means it was filed against unknown persons, to “ensure that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” including individuals who posted under pseudonyms. Rowling and Musk are specifically named in the lawsuit and former President Donald Trump is also reportedly part of the investigation, according to Boudi.
“J. K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” he said, adding that 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 defeated Yang Liu of China in the gold medal round by points via unanimous decision. The 25-year-old was previously ruled ineligible by the International Boxing Association after failing gender tests last year, which led to many critics online falsely labeling her as transgender and resulted in heated political debates.
The IBA, which has historically been dominated by Russia, was banned from the Olympics last year and hasn’t overseen Olympic boxing since 2016. Khelif, who has identified as female since birth and is listed as female on her passport for Algeria, which prohibits transitioning, previously defeated Angela Carini of Italy, who refused to shake her hand and claimed “this is unjust,” in 46 seconds last week, which led to online outrage.
Carini later apologized to Khelif and claimed “all this controversy makes me sad.” Khelif called for an end to “bullying all athletes” while giving her first extensive comments in response to the controversy.
“I send a message to all the people of the world to uphold the Olympic principles and the Olympic Charter, to refrain from bullying all athletes, because this has effects, massive effects,” Khelif said in Arabic during an interview with SNTV, which was re-shared by the Associated Press. “It can destroy people, it can kill people’s thoughts, spirit and mind. It can divide people. And because of that, I ask them to refrain from bullying.”
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