Boxer Iman Khelif Sues Trump, Musk, Rowling for Calling Her a Man

Algerian Olympic boxing champion Iman Khelif has filed a complaint against social media platform X (formerly Twitter) following a gender scandal (she was suspected of being a man) and subsequent bullying. In the lawsuit, the athlete said she faced "acts of brutal cyberstalking," Variety reports.

The lawsuit was sent to the Center for Combating Online Hate Speech at the Paris Public Prosecutor's Office. The complaint was filed against the social network X (formerly Twitter), so, in accordance with French law, it will be brought against an unspecified group of people. However, it is known that the lawsuit mentions famous people who, according to 25-year-old Iman Khelif, are involved in the bullying. Among them are writer J.K. Rowling, the owner of the social network Elon Musk, and former US President Donald Trump (he also dedicated one of his hateful posts to Iman). Iman's lawyer Nabil Boudi said that if the case goes to court, they will all have to appear at the hearing.

Let us recall that Algerian boxer Iman Khelif faced harassment at the Paris Olympics due to a gender scandal: many began to doubt her gender identity and suspect that she was a man, but was taking part in women's boxing. The controversy began after her opponent from Italy, Angela Carini, almost immediately after the start of the fight, refused to participate and said that she had "never been hit so hard." She later apologized to Iman for this, but announced her retirement.

Gender tests in 2023 were conducted by the International Boxing Association, headed by Russian Umar Kremlev. According to him, Iman (and another participant, Taiwanese athlete Lin Yuting) were found to have a Y chromosome, which means that she cannot be a woman. However, the association did not provide evidence, citing medical confidentiality. Hungarian boxer Anna Hamori directly stated that she could not defeat her because Iman was a man.

The IOC does not conduct gender tests, so both athletes were allowed to compete, and the International Boxing Association was accused of inciting a gender scandal. The IOC's decision sparked heated debate on the social network X: writer J.K. Rowling, who has spoken out on the matter on numerous occasions, called one of Iman's fights "a spectacle of a man beating up a woman for the amusement of the public," and wrote in another post: "Could any photograph better describe our new men's rights movement? The smirk of a man protected by a misogynistic sports establishment, enjoying the suffering of a woman he's just punched in the head and whose dreams he's just crushed." American swimmer Riley Gaines, commenting on Iman's fight, wrote that "men have no place in women's sports," and Elon Musk supported her: he wrote "absolutely" in a repost of the post. Trump posted a photo from Khelif's fight and captioned it: "I will not allow men in women's sports!"

Iman herself, commenting on the gender scandal, said that bullying can destroy a person. On August 9, she became the Olympic champion in the welterweight category (up to 66 kilograms). Lin Yuting also won gold in her weight category.