What could happen to Elon Musk and JK Rowling if Olympic boxer Imane Khelif wins criminal cyberbullying case

Imane Khelif has filed a lawsuit following comments made about her during the Olympics, with both JK Rowling and Elon Musk named.

The boxer took home gold in the women's 66kg weight category as she beat her opponents amid a whole load of chat online surrounding her gender.

Khelif was born and raised as a woman and has never publicly identified as a man, transgender, intersex or non-binary.

However, much of her time at the Paris 2024 Olympics was surrounded by controversy over a failed, unspecified 'gender eligibility test' at the 2023 IBA Women's World Boxing Championships.

The International Boxing Association (IBA) banned her from the competition and boxing in women's competitions, but this was not recognised in the Olympics as it has different criteria.

Imane Khelif is now a gold medallist. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

Now, Khelif has filed a lawsuit with the French judicial system over comments made on social media following the 'gender eligibility test' row, citing allegations of 'acts of aggravated cyber harassment'.

Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based lawyer representing Khelif, spoke to Variety and confirmed Rowling and Musk were mentioned in the legal complaint filed with the anti-online hatred centre of the Paris public prosecutor’s office.

The lawsuit has been filed against 'unknown persons', which is written as 'X', meaning the prosecution has the scope to investigate 'all people' in relation to what was said about the boxer. This includes anonymous accounts of those with pseudonyms.

Boudi said: "JK Rowling and Elon Musk are named in the lawsuit, among others.

"Trump tweeted, so whether or not he is named in our lawsuit, he will inevitably be looked into as part of the prosecution."

Musk could face the consequences of his comments. (Marc Piasecki/Getty Images)

And if Khelif wins her case, Rowling and Musk could face quite the consequences.

In France, cyber-bullying offences can be punished with the likes of prison sentences. Or there's the possibility of fines worth thousands of pounds.

There were plenty of people making comments about Khelif online as Logan Paul backtracked on his and said he 'might be guilty of spreading misinformation'.

Rowling, who is often accused of spreading transphobia, posted on X to call Khelif a 'man' who had been 'enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head' during a fight against Italy's Angela Carini.

While Musk quoted swimmer Riley Gaines' X post that said 'men don’t belong in women’s sports', adding: "Absolutely."

And on social media outlet Truth Social, Trump wrote: "I will keep men out of women's sports."

LADbible Group has contacted representatives for Elon Musk and JK Rowling for comment.