Report: Imane Khelif's legal complaint responding to online abuse names Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling, Donald Trump
The legal complaint filed by Olympic champion boxer Imane Khelif with Parisian authorities names a number of major global figures such as Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling and former United States President Donald Trump, Khelif’s attorney confirmed to Variety this week. Khelif filed the complaint to investigate and potentially prosecute those who spread hate and abuse about her online during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The complaint, according to Paris attorney Nabil Boudi, who represents Khelif, also cites X/Twitter — the social media company Musk owns — to allow prosecutors to investigate people not named in the complaint who still took to platforms to disparage the Algerian boxer. Khelif came under fire during the Olympics as her gender was called into question as many, including those named in the complaint, intimated or indicated Khelif is a man or transgender. Khelif was born as and identifies as a woman; Algerian laws also effectively make it impossible to be publicly transgender, or to have it reflected in an official document.
But that didn’t stop the likes of Rowling, Musk and Trump from piling on amidst the furor after Khelif defeated Italian Angela Carini when the latter withdrew after 46 seconds of fighting.
Rowling — who’s become infamous for her anti-transgender views — posted a picture of Khelif and Carini during their bout, accusing Khelif of being a man to her more than 14 million followers while saying Khelif was “enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.”
Musk was more oblique, quoting a post from swimmer Riley Gaines — who has also voiced anti-transgender sentiments in the past — which claimed “men don’t belong in women’s sports.” Musk, quoting the post, said, “Absolutely.”
And Trump didn’t mince words, wrongly identifying the Algerian boxer as a man and posting a picture of the Khelif-Carini fight saying “I will keep men out of women’s sports.”
Others, like boxer and influencer Logan Paul, originally offered similar sentiments to Rowling, Musk and Trump before deleting his post and apologizing for having potentially spread misinformation. Boudi, speaking to Variety, said that he and his client aren’t really interested in giving those who have apologized, only after fueling the fire, a pass.
“The lawsuit is filed and the facts remain,” Boudi said.
More on Khelif’s legal complaint
The complaint, filed on Friday with the anti-online hatred center of the Paris public prosecutor’s office, is looking at “aggravated cyber harassment.”
The investigation will apparently seek to identify not only which persons started sharing, incorrectly, that Khelif isn’t a woman, but also go after those who fueled the days-long firestorm of abuse.
Khelif herself called for an end to the bullying of athletes, herself including, amid the furor.
Outrage was first sparked when Khelif’s first opponent, Italian boxer Angela Carini, withdrew and forfeited the match after 46 seconds. Carini’s emotional postgame remarks were then used as ammunition for posters on social media and writers to decry that the Italian was forced to face, what many of the critics said, without any factual proof, was a man. Khelif is not transgender, and has identified as a woman since birth. Her passport — the document used to determine her eligibility — reflects as much.
The IOC issued a statement confirming the Algerian is eligible to compete and Carini even apologized to Khelif for how her emotional post-match remarks were weaponized.
That didn’t stop the outrage, though, as another of Khelif’s opponents — Hungary’s Anna Luca Hamori — shared a number of vitriol-filled Instagram stories and a TikTok. Khelif defeated Hamori in their match on scoring.
She’d go on to win the Olympic gold medal in the welterweight division.