JK Rowling goes silent on radio, deletes tweets en masse

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Controversial Harry Potter Author JK Rowling, who has written extensively on Twitter about transgender and LGBTQ issues in recent years, has not tweeted since August 7 (two weeks ago at the time of writing) and has also deleted a number of tweets.

The probable reason that JK Rowling has likely temporarily halted her hateful online rhetoric after being named in a lawsuit filed by the Olympic gold medalist Algerian boxer Imane Khelif, who is suing Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberbullying over repeated false claims that she was a man competing in a women’s competition.

Khelif’s potentially expensive lawsuit isn’t the only way Rowling has been embarrassed on Twitter in recent weeks. Fans also noticed that the author’s profile picture appeared to have black mold growing on the walls of her house.

“The lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means it was filed against unknown persons. That ‘ensures that the Public Prosecutor’s Office has complete freedom to investigate all people,’ including those who may have written hateful messages under pseudonyms,” Nabil Boudi, Khelif’s Paris-based lawyer, said in a statement earlier this month.

“JK Rowling and Elon Musk are among those named in the lawsuit. Trump tweeted, so whether he is named in our lawsuit or not, he will inevitably be investigated as part of the prosecution,” he added.

The 25-year-old Algerian boxer, who won the Olympic gold medal in the women’s 66kg boxing event, became the focus of right-wing anger on social media during the 2024 Olympics after she was widely and unfairly accused of being a man.

However, Khelif suffers from a rare condition called Differences of Sexual Development (DSD) which can cause females to have “XY sex chromosomes, blood testosterone levels in the male range, and the ability to use testosterone circulating in their bodies.”