25-year-old Algerian boxer Imane Khelif isn't just an Olympic gold medalist, she's also now an international hero. Not only did she punch a cop so hard she quit boxing, she is now the only person to ever successfully get J.K. Rowling to shut up. After the match between Khelif and 25-year-old Italian boxer Angela Carini where Carini quit the bout after just 46 seconds, ending the match without shaking Khelif's hand while still actively crying, some people rose to speculate that it's because Khelif is secretly a man or a transgender woman, including J.K. Rowling.
Big mistake... huge.
Rowling posted to X (formerly Twitter) about Khelif's victory, outraged based on her own delusions and zero actual evidence that Khelif is a man, and undeserving to compete in or win a women's sporting event. Rowling was in terrible company as per usual, with Donald Trump, Logan Paul, and Elon Musk also deciding to incorrectly weigh in on Khelif's situation. But it was Rowling who really took it upon herself to spearhead the online campaign and "transvestigation" meant to delegitimize Khelif as an athlete and strip her of her titles and any ability to compete. The tweet below, in particular, poured a lot of fuel on that fire, and currently has 122.2 million views.
Now, after securing her Olympic championship, Khelif has filed a lawsuit addressing the hate she faced at the Summer Games. Her lawyer, Nabil Boudi, filed a complaint with Paris prosecutor's office that specifically address and combats online hate speech. An investigation was then open by the Office for the Fight against Crimes against Humanity and Hate Crime on the charges of "cyber harassment based on gender, public insults based on gender, public incitement to discrimination, and public insults based on origin."
Musk and Rowling have both been named in the lawsuit, and in the 13 days since its filing the internet has enjoyed a blissful silence in Rowling's absence. Her X account is still active, but she hasn't authored a single word in the nearly two weeks since Khelif filed the suit. The internet has been celebrating Rowling's silence ever since!
As if that weren't enough cause to start popping bottles, she's also been going back through her account and deleting her heinous transphobic tweets. I'm no lawyer, but I think this is what they call in legalese, "cooked." Here's a tweet of hers from March about this exact situation that has aged like fine wine.
Some may say that you shouldn't stoop down to these people's level, but I say making fun of terrible people and laughing at their expense is actually totally okay and I think should even be encouraged.
For those outside of the UK it may be easier to dismiss Rowling as just another internet troll. But her degree of power, influence, and wealth has fundamentally shifted politic in the UK for the worse. She has spent thousands upon thousands of dollars trying to get her transphobia and transmisogynistic conspiracy theories passed into the word of law.
So call me "Hans Schadenfreude" the way I'm reading all these reactions to Rowling's absence! I'm laying on the bed with my feet kicking in the air like a school girl at a slumber party. I'm even thinking about making popcorn! They say "misery loves company," so join me in reveling in this miserable woman's miserable time.
