Algerian boxer and Olympic gold medalist Imane Khelif has officially filed a formal legal complaint to French authorities following weeks of harassment and speculation surrounding her gender. It’s now been revealed that the ghastly trinity, Elon Musk, J.K. Rowling and former US President Donald Trump will be a part of the investigations.
After a stellar run, the Algerian boxer bagged a gold medal in the Women’s Welterweight Category. However, her experience at Olympiad Paris 2024 was shrouded in controversy as speculation surrounding her gender reached boiling point on social media.
Following her stellar run at the Olympics, Khelif’s lawyer Nabil Boudi told Reuters that an official complaint over “aggravated online harassment” was filed on Friday.
Who was named in the Imane Khelif lawsuit?
Recently, Boudi told Variety that Khelif’s lawsuit was filed against X (formerly Twitter) which “[ensures] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people'”. This includes people who might’ve sent messages under an alias.
Boudi then went on to name three big names who are known for their controversial opinions.
“J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others,” Boudi said, per the publication.
“Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution.”
Boudi continued to say that although names have been highlighted in the lawsuit, he’s asking “that prosecution investigates not only these people but whoever it feels necessary. If the case goes to court, they will stand trial.”
What did J.K. Rowling, Elon Musk and Donald Trump say about Imane Khelif?
At the height of the controversy, the Harry Potter author shared a photo of Khelif and her Italian opponent Angela Carini, labelled the Olympian Champ as a male and wrote, “he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head.”
X big wig Elon Musk retweeted a photo of a post from Riley Gaines, which reads “Men don’t belong in women’s sports” alongside a picture of Carini. In his repost, Musk wrote, “Absolutely”.
Musk also reshared a BRICS News post where Donald Trump reportedly said he would ban biological men from competing in women’s sports, adding “Good”.
Per Variety, Trump posted a photo of the Khelif Vs Carini fight, claiming he would “keep men out of women’s sports!”
With the legal complaint being filed in France, Boudi hopes “it could target personalities overseas” as “the prosecutor’s office for combating online hate speech has the possibility to make requests for mutual legal assistance with other countries.”
Kehlif’s lawyer also said although the lawsuit was filed against Musk’s social media platform, it is aimed at the people who made the distressing posts.
“It’s the responsibility of lawmakers to issue sanctions to platforms, not ours,” he added.
Pedro Diaz, Khelif’s coach, also reflected on the media storm to Variety, and shared how it “incredibly affected” the Olympian.
“The first time she fought in the Olympics, there was this crazy storm outside of the ring,” he shared.
“I had never seen anything so disgusting in my life.”
What happened to Imane Khelif at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games?
Although Khelif managed to take home a gold medal, the Algerian’s journey through Paris 2024 was no easy feat.
After Italy’s Carini abandoned the match 46 seconds in, the Italian Olympian refused to shake Khelif’s hand and told the press that she’d “never felt a punch” like what she copped from the Algerian boxer.
“After the second punch, after years of experience, I felt a strong pain in the nose. I said enough,” she said.
Following the Italian boxer’s comments, Kehlif’s gender was then questioned after news of her failing a controversial eligibility test at last year’s World Championships surfaced.
Despite the results of the controversial test, the Algerian boxer — who was assigned female at birth and always competed as a woman — was cleared by the IOC to compete in Paris 2024.
However, with this information, folks like Elon Musk and J.K. Rowling took to social media to share their opinions on Khelif, her gender, and women’s sports.
As social media began to question Khelif’s gender, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stepped in and defended Khelif, as well as Taiwanese boxer Lin Yu-Ting who was met with the same accusations.
“Every person has the right to practise sport without discrimination,” the IOC shared in a joint statement.
“All athletes participating in the boxing tournament of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 comply with the competition’s eligibility and entry regulations, as well as all applicable medical regulations set by the Paris 2024 Boxing Unit (PBU).
“As with previous Olympic boxing competitions, the gender and age of the athletes are based on their passport.”
The IOC went on to slam the “misleading” claims made against the boxers. Mark Adams, a spokesman for the IOC, shared that he was worried the online speculation would bubble into a “witch hunt”.
“These boxers are completely eligible. They are women on their passports, they are women who have competed in the Tokyo Olympics and have been competing for many years,” he said at a news conference.
“I think we all have a responsibility to tone it down and not turn it into a witch hunt.”
Carini has since apologised to Khelif via the media over the comments. However, social media continued to speculate about Khelif’s gender.
As Diaz said, the way it allowed TERFs to completely invalidate the Algerian Boxer’s gender was not only disgusting but fucking terrifying. Says a lot about how far (more like how little) we’ve come as a society.
Image source: Getty Image / Bruce Glikas, Justin Sullivan and Richard Pelham
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