Author J.K. Rowling has fallen silent on her usually busy X (formerly Twitter) feed, after Olympic gold medalist boxer Imane Khelif filed a legal complaint in France for alleged cyber harassment over statements regarding her gender.

On August 9, lawyers for Khelif filed a lawsuit with a special unit of the public prosecutor’s office in Paris, stemming from false statements that spread online about her gender after the Algerian boxer defeated Italy’s Angela Carini in her first fight of the 2024 Olympic Games. Carini pulled out 46 seconds into the bout and told reporters afterwards that she had “never felt a punch like this.”

  • Media Bias Fact Checker@lemmy.worldB
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    26 days ago
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    • Dasus@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Well at the very least it could block her from going to France? Which as a rich British middle-aged woman I’m sure she would hate not being able to do.

    • protist@mander.xyz
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      26 days ago

      The harassment lawsuit alleges “aggravated cyber-harassment” against Khelif, according to a statement from the boxer’s lawyer, Nabil Boudi, who was quoted by The Associated Press. Variety reported that the complaint was filed against X, which means under French law that it was filed against unknown persons. Investigators at the Paris prosecutor’s office will determine who could be at fault in Khelif’s complaint.

      If she ends up being found liable in an EU country, I bet she won’t be able to travel to any EU country without facing that liability. X is an international platform, and she’s broadcasting her words internationally, so yes, she can be held accountable in countries where this carries civil or criminal liability.

      • dm_me_your_feet@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Also any EU royalty payments could be garnished until her debt from her liability is paid in full.

        With the sales numbers of Harry Potter stuff, i doubt there will be a problem of securing the money.

        • M500@lemmy.ml
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          26 days ago

          I imagine that her Harry Potter stuff is owned by a corporation. That is probably all separate legally from her.

          So her Harry Potter stuff is probably fine as she is getting sued not the Harry Potter corporation.

          It will mainly affect her ability to travel around Europe.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            She’s also one of the richest women in the world, so she won’t really suffer any major loss unfortunately.

    • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
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      26 days ago

      Rich people often have their fingers in a lot of pies, so I wouldn’t be shocked. You know how the saying goes,“Mo’ money (that you’re semi-illicilty hiding internationally to evade domestic taxes), mo’ problems.”

    • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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      26 days ago

      Only because she attacked a cis woman. No consequences from the years doing everything in her power to targetedly harass individual trans peolle, the community as a whole or publishing books about trans serial killers.

      Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to see her go quite, I hope she stays that way. But I’m bitter it wasn’t a realization that her crusade was mysgonstic hatred, only that she was a zealot who accidently friendly fired.

      • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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        26 days ago

        This isn’t friendly fire. TERFism is inherently white supremacist and Khelif was targeted for her race.

        • inb4_FoundTheVegan@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          I abundetly agree that is correct. But I am doing my best to try to think of her personal viewpoint, in JK’s mind she is defending women from men. Hell, her stupid books are a racist allegory for how evil racism is, but when she gets praised from literaly white supramcists and dictarors, she makes excuses for being the greater good.

          It’s only when from her mind, she attacked another woman, that she is finally giving pause. Even if all she has done in actuality for the last several years is outright misogyny. Which is why I am so frustrated, she didn’t wake up to what a monster she has been, just that she needs to be more careful in who she “righteously” attacks.

          • Zagorath@aussie.zone
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            25 days ago

            in JK’s mind she is defending women from men

            You could have made this claim once, and it been believable.

            Had Rowling made even one…just one comment about the literal child rapist (whose victim was a 12-year-old girl) that competed at this Olympics…you might have been able to keep believing this.

            But her absolute silence about an issue where an actual girl was traumatised by the actions of an actual man, and insistence on going to war against a woman who she’s pretending is a man instead, completely removes any semblance of doubt there. Her goal is to delegitimise trans women. That’s not just an instrumental goal, it is the terminal goal: the cruelty is the entire point.

          • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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            26 days ago

            I don’t think Rowling is as capable of change as you do. I think Rowling still sees Khelif 100% as a male man, because she’s black. And I think Rowling is viewing this as the woke lobby taking away all her money and making her live on the street for challenging them. I think this is making Rowling incredibly outraged, and she’s only shut up out of fear. And that’s good. I want Rowling to be angry and scared and powerless. Because I don’t think anything in the world could ever convince her that trans women are women.

        • _NoName_@lemmy.ml
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          25 days ago

          Don’t forget it’s also inherently misogynistic and attacks cis women all the time anyways.

          • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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            25 days ago

            I just had a great idea. You know how Rowling is always going on in the narration of the HP books about how X bad female character has “mannish hands”? Let’s turn Rowling and her mannish hands into a meme just to fuck with her

          • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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            25 days ago

            TERFism restricts feminism to a tightly defined and controlled ingroup. The criteria for determining who is a real woman, when employed by bigots, will inevitably come to describe the socially dominant form of femininity, which is white femininity. Black and Arab women like Khelif will always fail to pass the standards of white femininity, because they’re not white. The standards are racist. And TERFs invariably pick racist standards, because the kind of people who feel the need to police womanhood to appeal to an imagined ideal are people who will end up doing that in more ways than one. And also, TERFs are always hanging out and allying with overly white supremacist groups, because Nazis are the only people who will put up with assholes like Rowling. That’s why she’s always taking photos with fascists.

      • Samvega@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        26 days ago

        only that she was a zealot who accidently friendly fired.

        Bigotry is illogical, and will always ‘friendly fire’. No one is ever safe. People have transvestigated Joanne Koanne Roanne and Andrew Tate. No one is ever safe.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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          26 days ago

          tbf tho Tate is a little manlet. I am in disbelief that anyone takes their cues on traditional masculinity from him. Guy with a face like that, he should be preaching the virtues of open mindedness and tolerance. If he was, I’d respect his masculinity. But since he demands that men be judged for failing to embody masculinity, I’m happy to treat him as he wishes to be treated and conclude he is a tiny soyboy with a pathetic chin.

      • Vilian@lemmy.ca
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        26 days ago

        It’s the start, the lawsuit has more chance to win that way, and can pave a path for trans people to win cyberbullying lawsuits too

    • floofloof@lemmy.ca
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      26 days ago

      She has billions. No matter how much she loses she’ll still be obscenely rich.

      • Blade9732@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        Maybe they can sue for billions. Gawker got sued out of existence, I hope she gets some good US attorneys and files in a jurisdiction that has unlimited damages. Maybe we can all use the new “K” platform after she owns “X”.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            26 days ago

            Yep. Because they outed him. And he couldn’t sue them for that, so he waited around until he found something he could use to sink his teeth into them.

            People were cheering when Gawker lost and got shut down because Gawker sucked. Not me. I saw a billionaire using the justice system successfully for a personal vendetta and was horrified.

  • P00ptart@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    No need for lawsuits. Put her in the ring. Let her defend her convictions with her face and fists.

    • FarFarAway@startrek.website
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      26 days ago

      I’m honestly confused how she could write a story where Harry Potter triumphs over he who must not be named, when he who must not be named was her hero.

      It must have been really tough for her.

      • JustARaccoon@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        It’s less that and more the system of prejudice itself is her hero, because she never truly challenges it, and the final state of peace at the end of the books does not require fixing its problems. Voldemort was a bad apple, nothing more (according to her I’d imagine)

        • LustyArgonianMana@lemmy.world
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          26 days ago

          Yeah the way she kind of bullies Hermione with the whole ‘SPEW’ thing was so off. First, Hermione had style and was a genius. I think she would know that ‘SPEW’ is a bad acronym.

          Also, making everyone turn away from her and no one supporting her - she didn’t need to really make it like that at all. Why couldnt the org have a cute name and Hermione and like Lavender Brown etc all get together to try to coordinate better working conditions for the elves. This then would later help with the plot involving the DA. It’s literally a fantasy and Harry gets magical hero results all the time. It’s just such a weird part of the books and negative when it really didn’t serve any purpose to be negative. Except to be shitty to lady activists.

          • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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            26 days ago

            Yeah the HP books are misogynist as fuck. When I was a little one and I found out they were written by a woman, I was in disbelief. Why would a woman write something so mean to women in general?

            Well, the author of HP goes by Robert these days so I guess I had the right idea.

            • Akuchimoya@startrek.website
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              26 days ago

              goes by Robert

              I’m sorry, I think you just short circuited my brain. JK Rowling, who has so publicly and venomously been anti-trans… has spent the last few years pretending to be a man??? What in the hypocrisy is wrong with her!!!

              And now that you mention it, I’d read a long time ago, before she became public with her TERF-ness, that she went by “J K” on the HP books instead of Joanne because she or the publishers didn’t want to discourage boys from picking up a book written by a woman. And now that I’m typing this, I realize the fact that she wrote her books from a boy’s perspective, too. So in all these examples, she’s inhabiting a male persona.

              My brain… can list these facts, but cannot compute them together.

              • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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                25 days ago

                Robert Galbraith pretends to be a different gender in order to gain a political advantage and make money. Having absolutely no sense of empathy whatsoever, he assumes everyone else is like him. He assumes trans people are all pretending to be a different gender in order to gain a political advantage and make money. And the only political advantage you can get out of trans femininity (as opposed to trans masculinity) is the appropriation of feminist resources.

                (I mean, you can also get great skin, beautiful flowing locks, and resistance to covid from trans femininity, but I don’t think Robert knows about those)

  • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
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    26 days ago

    And let this be a lesson to all internet people, I know y’all hear about the first amendment a lot, but it only applies in America. You have to actually follow the laws of the country you’re in

    • DJDarren@thelemmy.club
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      26 days ago

      Also, the first amendment only applies to free speech against the US government. You can’t chat shit about any private individual without them having the option to sue you.

      • Serinus@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        There’s a whole lot here that’s just slightly off the mark. I’ll give you the general sentiment, but the details need work.

      • mriormro@lemmy.world
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        26 days ago

        The first amendment does not give every US citizen carte blanche to say whatever they want. This is often misunderstood, even amongst a lot of the US population.

  • Grass@sh.itjust.works
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    26 days ago

    I managed to never see a photo of rowling until now, and she totally looks like my friend’s dad in poorly done drag and probably also on hard drugs.